(DANVILLE, Calif.) - Community members in the town of Danville gathered on Friday evening at Oak Hill Park’s All Wars Memorial for the 25th-anniversary 9/11 memorial ceremony sponsored by the Exchange Club of San Ramon Valley.
The ceremony included a number of events and speakers, including Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich, Vice Mayor of San Ramon Marisol Rubio, and keynote speaker US Marine Colonel Chris Starling.
Photo Credit: Joel Martinez - Keynote speaker Colonel Chris Starling giving the main talk of the ceremony
The program opened with a march of youth carrying 50 American flags, the national anthem, the invocation by Chaplain Hugh Keith and the Pledge of Allegiance, which was led by Earl J. “Chuck” Kohler, a U.S. Navy veteran and one of 10 living survivors of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attacks.
“I’m privileged every year to be invited to come and offer the invocation for the event. I’ve been doing that for over a decade,” said Chaplain Hugh Keith, Deputy Chief Chaplain and Vice Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Conference of Chaplains.
“9/11 was a very tragic series of events for our country. From my generation, it was our Pearl Harbor. It’s amazing that 25 years later the passion for remembering and the need to remember that event hasn’t gone away, and I don’t think it ever will,” said Keith.
The Monte Vista High School Choir performed classic American songs like “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood and “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin.
“This is the twenty-fifth year of remembering this event that shocked the world,” said Mayor Arnerich. “Remembering things that happened in our past hopefully guide us for the future.”
Arnerich also recalled the town of Danville’s ties to 9/11 through Deena Burnett Bailey, a then San Ramon resident whose husband, Tom Burnett, was onboard United Flight 93 when it was hijacked and crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.
Photo Credit: Joel Martinez - Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich giving his address to the attendees
“9/11 was a shock for all of us. We were tied to it because of Mrs. Burnett, who lived here,” Arnerich said. “That morning, she’s the one whose husband had called her and said, “hey honey, I’m gonna be late.’ he discovered that their plane had been hijacked, and we all heard it live in our police station.”
Gold Star speaker Roxanne Langevin honored her son and other Gold Star families that have lost sons and daughters in the defense of the United States after the attacks. The program also included recognition of first responders and military personnel who responded to the World Trade Center.
“It’s about remembering, it’s about honoring those who came before us,” said Danville Chief of Police Thomas Rossberg. “It’s about the sacrifice they give. It’s why one of the reasons that I got into this profession is for the sacrifice that the other first responders gave, and for the people that sacrificed.”
After the ceremony, ice cream was served and winners from an essay competition were displayed to the attendees. Attendees who arrived early had the chance to look at the newly installed plaques at the All-Wars memorial about America’s battles.
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at joel.m@lead4earth.org
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