Carbon speakers discuss impact of 9/11 tragedy

Sept. 11, 2001: A day that will be etched into all Americans’ lives forever.

It was the second time our country was attacked on American soil, the only other being Pearl Harbor.

Many can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news break that four commercial airplanes were hijacked and used as missiles, crashing into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and into a field in Shanksville.

On Wednesday, the 18th anniversary of the attack, Carbon County officials and employees from all offices, as well as members of the Carbon County United Veterans Organization and the public, gathered to remember the victims of this tragic day.

Henry Desrosiers, director of the Carbon County Office of Veterans Affairs, who will be retiring in December, welcomed everyone in attendance, stating that it was with great honor and privilege that he was able to represent the county and its veterans at the service one last time.

“Eighteen years ago today, what an awful day that was,” Desrosiers said. “We can all remember the horrors that we experienced and thoughts of that fateful day. Some would say the thing to do would be to forget, but should we forget the awful things we witnessed on that day? Forget the uncertainty of the future that was marred with great uncertainty? Forget the sacrifice of the many public servants who gave theirs lives on that day? Forget the thousands of innocent Americans who died on that day?

“To forget would be nice, but we will not,” he added.

He said in the days that followed the attacks, Americans found a new pride in what it means to be an American and what this country stands for.

“Do we forgive? Yes. Do we forget? Never,” Desrosiers said.

Fellow speakers included Carbon County Commissioners Thomas J. Gerhard and William O’Gurek; state Rep. Doyle Heffley; Bill Richards, representing state Sen. John Yudichak; and main speaker Kevin “Spike” Long, a Cold War veteran and commander of the Lehighton United Veterans Organization.

They echoed Desrosiers’ statements, remembering the men and women who lost their lives, as well as emergency responders, veterans and active military.

“On what started as a typical Tuesday, with the hustle of everyday life, a beautiful late summer morning on Sept. 11, 2001, became a day of death, destruction and uncertainty,” Long said. “These despicable and heinous acts of aggression that took place on our soil was the likes of what we have never seen undoubtedly etched in the minds of those who witnessed the horror of that day. It is the jets that were being deliberately flown into the iconic towers of the World Trade Center; the gaping, smoking hole of the Pentagon and the scarred field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“We now live in a very different place post-9/11,” he said.

The ceremony ended as the Carbon County UVO gave a gun salute, Angela Nardini sang “God Bless America,” and chaplain Gil Henry gave the benediction.

The crowd that had gathered then dispersed quietly as the American flag, which was flying at half-staff, hung silently in Josiah White Park in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that fateful day 18 years ago.