Hundreds Commemorate 9/11 at Redlands Event

About 3,000 people from surrounding communities gathered Sunday at the Redlands Bowl for the 10th Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony.

Community and religious leaders honored both victims and heroes who perished in 2001. They spoke of the bravery police, firemen, and civilians showed in the face of terrorist acts.

With a hope for unity, religious leaders from Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths gathered together to share their hope for a more peaceful, happier America.

The ceremony was led by former Redlands Mayor Kasey Haws.
Haws spoke about the 40 passengers of Flight 93 who, in their last moments of life, rushed the cockpit, taking back the plane and saving countless lives at the cost of their own.

Haws spoke about local heroism.

Melissa Rose Barnes, 27, was a Redlands local who died when a plane crashed into the Pentagon.

Redlands Fire Chief Jeff Frazier spoke about his own firsthand experience with 9/11.

Frazier, along with Deborah Fiedler, was called to New York within 24 hours of the attack on the Twin Towers along with other Federal Emergency Management Agency Search and Rescue teams.

“It was my first time in New York,” Frazier said. “We labored to cope with the small tragedies.”

Frazier faced overwhelming odds moving rubble, trying to save people who were probably already dead.  

Frazier quoted Winston Churchill, saying, “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

Many other community leaders shared their own experiences, and local high schools were asked to take part in a 9/11 High School Essay Contest.

Winners Misha Ponnuraju and Jonathan Roberts were invited to share their compositions at the ceremony.

“I was 6 when the attacks happened,” Roberts said.

He stood on the Twin Towers only weeks before they were destroyed.

“[My generation was] forced to define our views around 9/11,” Roberts said. "9/11 changed us all. 9/11 changed the youth, more so than you'll ever know."

“Dad might not come back from work, or from Afghanistan,” Roberts added.

Roberts said that the American Dream “needs to be revised” in the face of troubling times.

Between emotional speeches, Curtiss Allen, conductor of the Redlands Fourth of July Band, played patriotic songs.

Everyone rose when Allen started playing the Service Salute, asking those who had served to rise. People clapped and cheered for generations of soldiers, new and old. Boy Scouts, holding military flags, stood on stage.

To help the Fourth of July Band were the combined choir groups from high schools around the Redlands Unified School District. Dressed in black and white, they sang “The Star Spangled Banner” and “My Country Tis of Thee.”

Before the ceremony ended, University Chaplain Rev. John Walsh said, "Let us have a time of silence." This was followed by a procession of fire trucks and police vehicles. The church and fire bells were rung for several minutes.

At the end of the ceremony, people were hesitant to leave. They stood, drying their eyes, and talking.

Kristy Marquardt was “in Rancho when the towers were hit." She said the service was beautiful.

“I am just really emotional, it was really good,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Even now, I can remember exactly where I was.”

Janet Ward said loved the band, and shared her own 9/11 story.

“I don’t watch much TV. so I was already at work when I got the news. It was terrible,” Ward said.

Almost all present agreed that the service did wonders for helping them realize just how far America had come since that terrible day.

Haws summarized the crowd’s feelings by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Americans, we are still here. We are still strong, and we are still free.”