Eastern Michigan University recalls 9/11 in annual ceremony at campus memorial

9/11 Memorial Ceremony at EMU

YPSILANTI – “Eighteen years ago today, at 8:46 a.m., America was changed forever. We watched in horror and disbelief as the tragedy of 9/11 unfolded.”

The words of Walter Kraft, Vice President of Communications at Eastern Michigan University, echoed through the grassy area around the 9/11 memorial at the southeast corner of campus.

About 200 people, including EMU and community police and area firefighters – first responders – looked on in respectful and reflective silence during the annual 9/11 ceremony held on a sunny morning last week – a lot like the perfect morning when tragedy struck Manhattan 18 years ago. 

“Nineteen terrorists took control of four airplanes, crashing two of them into the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. 2,977 innocent lives were lost. Among them were 343 firefighters and 60 police officers. It is the deadliest day ever for our first responders.”

Memorial shows the intensity of the inferno

Kraft stood in front of the EMU 9/11 Memorial, a steel beam from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The beam is 14 feet long and weighs nearly 7,000 pounds, and the markings on it indicate it is from the 74th floor of the South Tower, only four floors away from the 78th floor where the second plane crashed.

The University obtained the dramatic steel beam from the New York Port Authority after then-President Susan Martin noticed a newspaper ad describing how 9/11 artifacts were available.

John Donegan, EMU Vice President for Operations and Facilities, and a colleague, the late Kevin Abasse, drove the beam back from New York City, a drive that elicited powerful emotions from the people they encountered at rest stops and other locations on the way home. An EMU committee then designed the memorial, which was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2011.

.“The beam – as you look closely -- is marked with dents from the molten metal that fell on it,” Kraft noted. “One side of the beam is sheared off – reflecting the massive force of the collapse of the building.”

The short but moving ceremony included:

• An EMU Army ROTC Color Guard.

• Taps by EMU students Darin Good and Jacob Rushow.

• The National Anthem, sung by EMU Police Detective Chuck Mosher.

• Chimes by EMU student Robbie Thorbun.

• A prayer by Pastor Bryan Schindel, from The Chapel @ EMU.

• A rendition of God Bless America, by EMU Gospel Choir alumna Lisa Harrell.

Pastor Sarah Jackson offered a memoir of the day, recalling the timetable and the fate of each of the four flights.

“Today we mourn the 2,753 people who were killed in lower Manhattan; the 184 who were killed at the Pentagon and the 40 brave passengers and crew members who died in the crash in Pennsylvania while trying to take back the plane,” Jackson said.

A shock to our American way of life

She recited a memoir by American journalist and New York City native Steve Levy.

He writes, “for all of us – and in fact, for all Americans – September 11, 2001 forever changed our world.”

“Just as December 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor Day – defined a generation, September 11 has indelibly shaped who we are, how we live our daily lives and what we believe in.

“But unlike Pearl Harbor, in which one nation attacked a military installation, this time an organization of terrorists, not operating under the flag of any one nation, attacked thousands of unsuspecting innocent men and women.

“Our sons and daughters; grandsons and granddaughters; husbands and wives; co-workers and friends – who were doing nothing out of the ordinary for a typical Tuesday morning.

“Bankers and brokers. Analysts and administrative assistants. Technicians. Designers. Some just starting out in the workplace; some at the apex of their careers.

“Pilots and flight attendants. Vacationers, business travelers and those flying across the country to see friends and family.

“And police officers and firefighters, who took an oath to protect and serve the hard-working public no matter how horrific the circumstances.

“All of these individuals we remember here today committed no offense against another nation.

“They held no ill will towards others. They did not subscribe to dogmatic principles centered around the destruction of those different from them. They were merely going about their daily routine – working hard to provide for their families and to build the life they dreamed of.

“I believe that what shocked us the most that morning was not the unthinkably diabolical method used to attack us. Or the scope and magnitude of the attacks.

“But that -- it was our way of life that was attacked.

“Our way of life that embraces freedom and democracy.

“Our way of life that rewards hard work and perseverance, and yet encourages selflessness and generosity.

“Our way of life that recognizes and respects varying opinions in society, and also preserves the rights of all to express those opinions.

“Our way of life that allows us to worship freely and to look differently.

“The United States of America remains one of the most desirable places on this planet to live; not for our oceans and plains, not for our mountains and rivers, not for our cars and homes and technology. But for our freedom.
 

 “Let us today as we look at this memorial and remember, let us resolve to not take our freedom for granted. To allow love to fill our hearts for our fellow man. To be intentional to build the future that will bless our children’s children. And to make an intentional resolve to be a nation “under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

 About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.

September 18, 2019

Written by:
Geoff Larcom

Media Contact:
Geoff Larcom
glarcom@emich.edu
734-487-4400