Monroe veteran describes Sept. 11 attacks at ceremony

Hank Miller was working on an upper floor of the JPMorgan Chase Tower in Manhattan 18 years ago when someone came running up and said a small plane had hit the World Trade Center.

Through the office glass, he saw a ring of fire erupting from the building.

“And then we saw the second plane go in.”

Sitting at a white folding table in the American Legion Post 927 building after the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday morning, Miller flipped through the pages of a notebook he’d filled with photos and mementos from that day with his fellow veteran Shirlene Moyer.

“It was such a beautiful day,” he said. “All the smoke from the Trade Center was blown out into the bay, so if you were uptown you don’t know anything happened.”

When he walked out of his building, Miller saw thousands of pieces of paper floating down and piling over everything. He picked up a charred document from Cantor Fitzgerald Partners that had fallen by his feet.

Miller still keeps it in his notebook.

“One of my friends worked there,” Miller said, struggling with tears. “For all I know (he) might have been handling that piece of paper.”

Eighteen years later, what does this day mean to him?

“I miss a lot of friends,” Miller said.

Miller knew about 10 people who were killed in the attacks.

After the national tragedy, Miller remained in the city for two weeks. He worked in the food service for that building and stayed with cooks, dishwashers and other employees who volunteered to feed those helping with the emergency.

Miller served as a Marine for 11 years but said the scariest time of his life was on the bus ride home after the national tragedy.

There was a bomb scare in the Port Authority bus terminal. After it was lifted the bus started on its way, but as it neared the mouth of a tunnel, Miller froze, imagining someone about to blow the tunnel up.

“It was an emotional time,” Miller said. “I get emotional even thinking about it.”

Everyone came together then.

Miller remembers the poor or homeless men and women from the Bowery neighborhood who brought water and chairs for volunteers.

During the ceremony, post commander Danny Insalata described this same patriotic spirit.

“The attacks of Sept. 11 were intended to break our spirit,” he said. “Instead, we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic, and religious freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.”

At the ceremony, veterans stood in formation in front of a podium set up outside the building and fired blanks into the air. Members of the American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, and American Legion Riders attended along with people from the community.

Guest speaker Don Wild Eagle, a Native American speaker who lives in Gilbert, gave an address on patriotism.

The post has had several such ceremonies in the past, but from this year onward it plans to hold them annually because people seem to be starting to forget, Insalata said after the ceremony.

In the weeks and even years following 9/11, everyone put out flags and patriotic fervor was high, he said.

“So we want to try and bring it back to life and make sure we get this done every year just to keep it in everyone’s hearts.”