‘Battlefield Cross Memorial’ to tell 9/11 story at WHS

WASILLA — A group of local dignitaries, friends and family members gathered near the flag pole Sunday at Wasilla High School to honor ET1 Ronald J. Hemenway, who died at the Pentagon 10 years ago during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Hemenway graduated from Wasilla High in 1982 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1994 at the age of 30.

He was working for the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on the plane, including the hijackers, and 125 people inside the Pentagon.

His remains and those of four others were never found. He was 37.

Surviving are his wife, Marinella, and children, Stefan and Desiree.

Maj. Mark Melson, himself a Gold Star Father, met Ron Hemenway’s parents Robert and Shirley in Kansas about a year ago and led local efforts to find a permanent place to install a 46-inch-tall bronze Battlefield Cross Memorial given to the family in Ron’s memory.

Melson said the “Battlefield Cross” — soldiers’ boots with a rifle pointed barrel down, topped with a helmet and sometimes dog tags — symbol is special way to commemorate Hemenway’s service and sacrifice.

“It’s the same Battlefield Cross that is planted on the battlefield immediately after a soldier is lost,” he said.

Also in attendance was Alaska Veterans Advisory Council member Bert Hall, Alaska Sen. Linda Menard, school board member Sarah Welton, Gerri Sumpter, a representative from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office, a Color Guard, Col. Mike Bridges and Chaplain Maj. Ted McGovern.

“The entire nation is with you as one in spirit right now,” Sumpter said in a speech she delivered at the event on behalf of the Sen. Murkowski.

She described Hemenway as a family man who valued duty to country and bravery. “He was in the best sense of the word, a true Alaskan.”

In his keynote address, Col. Bridges encouraged people to keep the memory alive of those lost on this dark day a decade ago and to remember the thousands of soldiers who have been killed or injured since the wars began in Afghanistan 10 years ago and Iraq eight years ago.

He told a story about being stationed at a base in Iraq as part of the 2007 surge.

“The flag is the fabric of our nation,” Bridges said, before presenting Robert and Shriley Hemenway with one of two flags he flew during that 2007 Iraq tour of duty.

“There are fewer flags flying today than when this first happened — people forget,” he said. “The dead on that day and from the battles fought since must never be forgotten.”

Contact Heather A. Resz at heather.resz@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.