Sept. 11 is now a day like no other. In New York City,
Washington, D.C., Japan and Pakistan and cities across the nation,
people stopped and remembered. Some people mourned the loss of
loved ones; many more mourned the loss of their innocence. In
Morgan Hill it was no different.
Sept. 11 is now a day like no other. In New York City, Washington, D.C., Japan and Pakistan and cities across the nation, people stopped and remembered. Some people mourned the loss of loved ones; many more mourned the loss of their innocence. In Morgan Hill it was no different.
At noon Thursday people gathered at the community center’s outdoor amphitheater: police and firefighters, veterans and military personnel, their parents and families, city hall staffers, council members, clergy and regular Morgan Hill folks. Flying overhead in a brisk breeze from a 75-foot hook and ladder truck was a bright, new American flag.
After everyone bravely sang “The Star Spangled Banner” without accompaniment, Mayor Dennis Kennedy thanked the military and emergency responders (police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians).
“They keep us free and safe,” Kennedy said to applause. He introduced the Santa Clara County Fire Department, California Department of Forestry, Morgan Hill Police Department, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department and the EMTs from AMR.
“We must look deeper at the causes of this 911 tragedy,” Kennedy said. “We must work to overcome fear, hatred and mistrust and to build bridges with the world,” he said.
The mayor was followed by Ray Milhem, a local businessman who is also a member of the Muslim community though he has lived in the United States since 1979.
“I’ll never forget that morning,” Milhem said. “I felt I knew every single person who died.”
After that, Milhem said, he began to give presentations at colleges and churches explaining the Muslim people, trying to make it clear that the terrorists did not represent Islam or Muslims, nor did they kill so many for Islam.
“Not in my name,” he said.
The Islamic religion is known to respect strangers and to love peace, he said.
“People greet each other with ‘salaam alaikum’ – peace be with you.” His final words emphasized a thought heard widely on this day.
“The terrorists do not speak for all good Muslims in America and worldwide,” Milhem said. “God bless America.”
Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson then took the podium.
“This is a day of somber reflection and heartfelt thanksgiving,” he said. He began by quoting the end of the Declaration of Independence where the assembled patriots “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
He said it is good to remember those who lost their lives on the battlefield and fighting crime and fires.
“It’s easy to imagine the young in uniforms serving patriotically,” he said. But he urged his listeners to consider a different image of a patriot – those who have aged and may be gray-haired and barely able to speak. Sampson told of such a person in room 231 of a convalescent hospital. Who was this person? His Korean-war wounds have faded and he doesn’t look like a warrior who sacrificed for his country. But he was. And he is Sampson’s father.
“He is my personal hero,” Sampson said. “He and others like him deserve our gratitude and appreciation.”
Fire Chief Ben Lopes followed Sampson.
“Each of us has a different connection to the day,” Lopes said of Sept. 11. He told of a retired New York City firefighter who lost his firefighter son that day and who spent months in the crew searching for bodies in the wreckage.
“We can’t bring them back but we can remember them,” Lopes said.
The final speaker was Alex Kennett, a retired Army officer and serious community volunteer.
“Everyone remembers those moments when time stops and the soul freezes,” Kennett said about Sept. 11. He said that the country had been tested and had come through with flying colors.
“Of course those colors are red, white and blue,” he said. He urged citizens to take care what we do with our power.
“Let not our vindictiveness create a “Viet Raq,” Kennett said, connecting the possible future in Iraq with the U.S. past in Viet Nam.
“Never forget where you were on Sept.11, 2001,” he said. “It is a part of your American history. And never ever forget that you are still free to express your pride, your anger and your concern for this great nation, this great state and this great community.
“Freedom has never been free and as of late it hasn’t even been reasonably priced; but it’s still there and ours for the keeping. Bless the USA and all she stands for. Bless this country in your own special way. Do you know why? Because you still can.”
Besides Kennedy, council members Hedy Chang and Greg Sellers also attended with about 100 other members of the community, in and out of uniform. Several people commented that the numbers were down from Sept. 11, 2002; others disagreed. They all said they were glad they came.
The only apparent casualty of the day was a Carden Academy student who fainted briefly after standing in the sun for an hour. Firefighters and paramedics leapt into action. The young man was recovering nicely, said his teacher, Karen Crane.
Crane, who trains Morgan Hill students in the world of patriotic music, led her singers up to the stage where they could look back at the gathered crowd, civilians and those in uniform.
“It was so cool to look out from the stage and see that line of firefighters and police officers in their dark, blue uniforms,” Crane said.
Carden students sang three patriotic songs: God Bless the USA, The Wind Beneath My Wings and God Bless America, the last with the help of a hundred people sharing the day.
While the children were singing “The Wind Beneath My Wings” two turkey buzzards, standing in for their American eagle cousins, began circling and wheeling in tandem overhead. When they finished their performance and flew off, a jet plane glinting silver in the sun flew over safely on its way to San Jose International Airport.
BAGPIPES AND UNIFORMS
Remembering Sept. 11 started officially Sunday at a local church.
As they do every year, the Crossroads Christian Church honored public service employees – police, California Highway Patrol, fire, emergency medical technicians and the military – at a special service on Sunday. An honor guard from Travis Air Force Base and a bagpiper, rounded out the morning service, attended by public safety workers, military and their families, according to Pastor Sammy Vasquez.
On Thursday evening residents met at the community center to discuss “What Freedom Means To You.” The evening was a part of the Conversations on Freedom Series.
Local leaders helped to start the conversation, moderated by Ann Skeet.
Shadow Mountain Baptist Church, 280 Llagas Road, plans to honor the victims and heroes of Sept. 11 and emergency responders as well on Sunday. Details: 782-7806.
The City of Morgan Hill and the Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored Patriot Day.
