Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “date which will live in infamy” line was about the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, but it applies just as strongly to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people at four different locations in the United States.
That dark day 21 years ago was observed and its victims honored again during morning and evening remembrance ceremonies Sunday at the Garden of Reflection in Lower Makefield Township, the official Pennsylvania memorial to Sept. 11 victims.
Hundreds of people attended both ceremonies that featured several speakers, patriotic and spiritual songs, a candlelight vigil and a firefighter ringing a bell to mark the significant events of the day at the exact times they occurred, including the crashing of planes into both towers of New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the plane crash in Shanksville in western Pennsylvania.
“There is now a whole generation of Americans who were not here on that day,” state Senator Steve Santarsiero said during the morning ceremony. “That’s why gathering in places like this today is so important. We can pass that memory along to them and give them the strength to face the challenges of their day.”
Among many others speaking were Pennsylvania Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Bucks County Commissioners Chairman Bob Harvie. Shapiro read the names of the state’s Sept. 11 victims outside of Bucks County and Santarsiero the names of the county victims. A steady rain started falling during the last part of the morning ceremony as attendees broke out their umbrellas.
Every year, Sept. 11 brings back vivid memories for so many.
“We lost a good friend that day,” said Newtown Township resident Barbara Sands, who attends one of the ceremonies every year with her husband Bill.
“He was in New York in one of the towers,” she continued. “He and his wife had just had a baby. He called his wife that day and said ‘I don’t know what just happened but I’m going home,’ but he never made it home.”
Kathy and Bob Navins of Feasterville reiterated the point made by Santarsiero and others that it is vital to teach future generations about the attacks and their ramifications.
“There are far too many of us that still remember friends and family that perished with this or helped with this, including our service men and women who fought to prevent terrorism in the years after,” Bob Navins said. “We won’t forget it. We definitely won’t forget it.”
The evening ceremony, held in a light drizzle, featured remarks by architect Liuba Lashchyk on the central points she was trying to get across in designing the Garden of Reflection and its “After Darkness ... Light” theme.
“It is meant as a place for people who come here to reflect on and honor the victims, but also as a place that can bring peace, solace and even joy,” she said.
The ceremony ended with its traditional candlelight vigil while the Council Rock High School South vocal ensemble sang “God Bless America.”
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