Valley marks 9/11 anniversary

PALMER — For Shannon Moody, remembering the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks came abruptly and a day early. That’s when her 7-year-old daughter, Lia, asked her why all the flags weren’t at the tops of their poles.

“She said, ‘Mommy, why isn’t the flag at the top?’” said Moody, who, along with Lia, were among a small gathering at the Veterans Wall of Honor Sunday to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 in New York, the Pentagon and on Flight 93.

“I had to explain to her, I had to show her videos and I wanted to bring her here. I still remember everything from that day. I told her (the flags were at half-mast) because tomorrow is a really sad day for our country. She’s like, ‘Why?’ So, and it was the hardest thing to have to do, but we looked on YouTube for videos of the crash and I explained to her about all the people who died and that’s why her uncle Michael Moody was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and why he has been to Afghanistan and Iraq.”

It’s memories like those, and a mission to never allow America to forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001, that prompted the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association of Alaska to host its first 9/11 memorial ceremony. Starting at 9:11 a.m., Sunday, association Commander Chris Creech led the group in the short ceremony, which included a Roll Call of Honor — a reading 161 names of fallen soldiers from Alaska or who were stationed in Alaska.

“I’m no great orator, but I’m going to do my best,” Creech said. The attacks were “a cowardly act by extremists that left so many innocent people’s lives take from us, like our Wasilla brother, Ron J. Hemenway, who was in the Pentagon on 9/11. More than people in buildings were attacked that day, but our freedom and our liberty that America was founded upon.”

Unlike other memorial services at other times of the year, Sunday’s gathering at the Wall of Honor was simple. Other than Creech, there were no guest speakers or invited dignitaries. It was a simple ceremony for the CVMA, and all were invited to be there, he said.

After a prayer from CVMA Chaplain Daniel Garrett and Creech’s speech, Phil Munger played a poignant rendition of “Taps.” Munger’s played the solemn tune at memorials and events more than 400 times, and said Sunday’s playing was significant.

“Here, now, it’s really important,” he said. “I think in the 10 years since Sept. 11, we’ve spent over $1 trillion and not necessarily in the right direction and created a lot of hatred. There’s enough of that already.”

Playing the traditional song “is a big responsibility,” he said. “It’s only 24 notes, but they’re very meaningful. A melody doesn’t have to be very complex or long to have meaning.”

And like the other times he’s played “Taps,” Munger said he would find it difficult to look at people while he played. Looking into people’s eyes as they listen to the notes is like looking into their souls through a window. It’s a private moment for the listener, he said.

For Jim and Lisa Johansen of Houston and their family — kids Alexander, Courtney and Joseph — the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, is emotional. Jim, a U.S. Navy veteran who retired as an E6 after 20 years of service was active duty on that day, and his family lived on a base in Groton, Conn. The attacks not only affected them as other Americans, it also altered the rest of his career in the Navy.

“I think about everybody we lost and honor,” Jim said. “Honor them, and everybody else who ever since then have been fighting to eliminate the people who did it. It was unreal. I was going to Washington state and had my orders, and I walked by the pharmacy and there’s, like, 50 people in front of a TV. I asked what was going on and they said, ‘Somebody flew a plane into the trade center.’ My first thought was, ‘What a moron.’”

He got home and told Lisa to turn on the television, Jim recalled. “Some idiot flew a plane into the trade center,” he said. “We’re watching it and shortly thereafter the second plane hit. Then you instantaneously knew.”

Attending Sunday’s memorial was surreal, because the crisp, autumn morning was punctuated by a cloudless blue sky, just like it was 10 years earlier, Lisa said.

“Looking at the skies today is eerie,” she said, “because I will never forget how clear and blue the skies were that day. The kids were in school, it was a gorgeous fall day in New England, just like this.”

That was the sentiment shared by state Rep. Carl Gato who was in New York the day before the attacks, Sept. 10, 2001, and saw the twin towers during a tour he took on the Staten Island Ferry.

“I looked back and I saw the towers, and I said, ‘That is a fabulous picture,’ and I took that picture,” he said. “The next day, it’s not there. When I took that picture, there were sailboats, little puffs of clouds, sunshine, and what impresses me about that picture is we have no idea what was in the works about to happen.”

Sharing those memories is important Moody said, especially for younger generations like her daughter. Although the memories bring her to tears, “It’s extremely important to me” to pass them on. “I don’t want her to ever forget the people we love, the people who served.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersma.com or 352-2269.