By Marc R. Masferrer, University Communications and Marketing
Students, faculty, staff and guests paused to remember the lives lost 23 years ago in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, during an annual commemoration ceremony at USF Sarasota-Manatee on Wednesday.
Third-grade students from Saint Stephen's Episcopal School in Bradenton sang "God Bless America" and a medley of military hymns during the 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony.
At moments, the ceremony on the campus courtyard was somber, with a bagpiper bellowing “Amazing Grace,” a Sarasota Sheriff’s Office honor guard firing a 21-gun salute and a trumpeter playing “Taps.” Students from Booker Middle School in Sarasota revived memories of Sept. 11, 2001, by recounting the timeline of events that morning, from the first hijacked airliner slamming into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. EDT to United Flight 93 crashing into an empty field near Shanksville, Pa., at 10:03 a.m. EDT.
But it was also a patriotic celebration — complete with third-graders from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton singing "God Bless America” and military hymns — honoring how the nation united after 9/11 and the continuing sacrifice of firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other first-responders, as well as military service members.
The featured speaker was John “Jack” McDonnell, a retired battalion chief with the Fire Department of New York, who recounted both his involvement with the search-and-recovery effort at Ground Zero and what he remembers about how the city and the nation responded to being attacked, whether it was by donating blood, providing food for rescue workers or gathering for candlelight vigils.
USF Sarasota-Manatee Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook and John "Jack" McDonnell, a retired battalion chief with the Fire Department of New York, greet attendees, after the 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony.
“We all looked beyond our religious and nationalist identities,” McDonnell said. "We looked beyond our ideologies, we looked beyond ourselves and displayed our desire for a life free of hate and fear, a life where we realize it feels good to help others.”
USF Sarasota-Manatee Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook struck a similar chord with her remarks.
“Twenty-three years later, we observe this day with a solemnity that it still deserves, as our university pays its respects to the lives that were lost on Sept. 11,” Holbrook said.
“I also wish for all of us this opportunity to recommit to a sense of community and for all of us to help one other," she said. "Let’s all hope for and work toward peace, strength and continued goodwill to one another.”
More photos from the event can be viewed here.