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N.C. ANG reflects and remembers victims of 9/11

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Patricia F. Moran
  • 145th Public Affairs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --  With the rising of the sun on Sept. 11, 2015, two members of the 145th Security Forces Squadron solemnly lower the flag to half-staff in honor of those who lost their lives on that tragic day 14 years ago.

Every year millions of Americans pay tribute, uniting together as a nation, in memory of those who lost their lives beginning at 8:46 a.m., Sept. 11, 2001, when the first Boeing 767 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day when four passenger airplanes were hijacked. Two were flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., while a fourth airplane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa.

Members of the 145th Airlift Wing gathered for a service at the North Carolina Air National Guard Base, for a moment of silence, not only to pay tribute to those who perished but to also remember those families who lost their loved ones and to honor those first responders who lost their lives while saving others.

"Along with the horror of that day we remember the coming together of people, communities, and nations to help move - us - from fear and pain to a place of healing and once again, hope," said 145th Airlift Wing Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Debra Kidd.

So on Patriot's Day, September 11, while U.S. Forces still continue to fight for freedom, a resilient nation joins together, honoring the past and looking forward to the future.