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Remember 9/11

  • Published
  • By Col. Ted Uchida
  • 20th Mission Support Group
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  On September 11, 2001, I was at my duty station near the Pentagon when an airliner slammed into the building at 500 miles per hour. 

In a moment of time, my life, along with millions of others throughout America and the world, changed. The memories of that day that are as vivid and haunting today as the day they occurred. 

It's still seeing the eyes of fellow commuters shouting silently, "What are you going to do about this awful attack?" at those of us wearing uniforms.

It's Todd Beamer, a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93, shouting his battle cry, "Are you guys ready? Let's roll!" It's 343 New York City firefighting fathers and sons, husbands and brothers carrying hundreds of pounds of gear on their way up the World Trade Center stairs selflessly ascending the worst place to be that September day. 

They never flinched or doubted about putting others first and they didn't look for a reason not to ascend their eventual grave. It's over 5,000 Airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines who voluntarily, and without hesitation, answered their nation's call in response to those attacks and are forever entombed in Arlington National Cemetery and a hundred other places just like it. 

Ladies and gentlemen, today is a day we take a brief moment away from our lives and remember. But we don't just remember the evil acts of cowardice, but also the heroism of countless individuals who rose above themselves executing the job they were trained to do with uncommon valor.
President George Bush spoke to our nation the day of the attack. Permit me to share from his message:

". . . Our homeland, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.

"The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

"A great people have been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

"(September 11th) is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace, and to reflect upon this awful attack."

And just as we reflect on that day eight years ago, we must also remember those in uniform who answered the call and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Let me provide but one of hundreds of stories. 

This story, courtesy of the Washington Post, is about 24-year-old Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano:

"Airplane!" his 2-year-old daughter, Alorah, cried excitedly, pointing at the clear sky with one hand and holding a red-white-and-blue lollipop in the other. For the rest of service at Arlington National Cemetery, she took note of all manner of aircraft overhead glinting high in the sky in the afternoon sun. 

Her father, a tactical air command and control specialist based at Pope, died a hero April 25, 2003, during a firefight with enemy troops in eastern Afghanistan. Her mother, Sarah, who brought her to the cemetery to say goodbye, was expecting a second baby in September. 

Losano was awarded a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart posthumously. An honor guard narrator said that his quick action in calling in air support helped his men repel their attackers. 

"He was mortally wounded defending his team," the narrator said. He had turned 24 five days before his death. Sarah Losano received the American flag that had draped her husband's coffin. 

Her in-laws were presented with a second flag. Their son had been in Afghanistan about two weeks when he was killed, his uncle Henry Gonzales said. 

"He died a hero in every sense of the word," Sarah Losano, 23, told the Tucson Citizen. "I'm so proud of him and what he did for all of us."

I hope no American ever forgets the events of Sept. 11, 2001 or the sacrifices of our Airman in response to those brutal attacks. Today, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.

Let me conclude with these words written by President Abraham Lincoln from a speech we call the Gettysburg Address: "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us . . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Let us now return to duty with an even greater sense of purpose and dedication.

Thank you for attending today's ceremony, and thank you for your service. May God bless America.