Colorado Springs first responders hold ceremony at Memorial Park in remembrance of 9/11
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Sunday afternoon, military, law enforcement and other first responders gathered in Memorial Park to remember the sacrifice of civilians and first responders 21 years ago.
Throughout the crowd, as servicemen and women from Colorado Springs reflected on the tragic events of 9/11, city council member Randy Helms was thinking back to his experience working on September 11 inside in the Pentagon.
"I got to witness the uncommon valor demonstrated by both military and civilians there at the Pentagon that day," said Helms. "The uncommon valor of your regular citizens is exactly what the United States of America is all about."
Helms was on active duty in the Air Force at the time, stationed at the Pentagon, where he watched the many acts of heroism firsthand.
"The remembrance of how the common citizen reacted and ran towards danger in the airplane flying over Pennsylvania," said Helms. "The first responders running into the Twin Towers, that's what I want Americans to remember."
David Matthew Hodne, Commanding General of the Fourth Infantry Division of Fort Carson, was born in New York and says his father was working in the city on September 11.
"I lost a high school classmate who was with the New York Fire Department and in one of the Twin Towers," said Hodne. "I also lost a buddy of mine who was in the Army. He was assigned to the Pentagon. So I lost friends in both the Pentagon and in the Twin Towers."
21 years later, both Hodne and Helms say the pain is still raw, but the unity displayed in the United States following that day is something that fills them with hope for the future.
"This is kind of a culmination, this ceremony, of just a lot of thoughts that go to memories of that day," said Hodne. "9/11 was a day about, you know, brave citizens, incredible first responders that came to the need of their fellow citizens and then the military that responded. So bringing it all together here is really, really powerful."
