Madison Central hosts tribute for 9/11

Madison Central hosts tribute for 9/11

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Madison Central Air Force JROTC cadets organized and held a memorial ceremony last Friday honoring first responders and others who lost their lives during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Lt. Col. Randy McCalip said they planned the memorial service for Friday, Sept. 10, rather than on Saturday, Sept. 11, so that all school students and faculty could participate. The ceremony started at 8:35 a.m.

McCalip said the event was organized by the students with some help and oversight from adult leadership. He said he was proud of how the event turned out.

“This was a cadet-run program,” McCalip said. “Coordinating something like this takes planning and careful attention to detail. Those are life lessons. I think they showed the attention to detail it takes to put on a professional program.”

Cadet Col. Irene Bishop gave opening and closing remarks at the ceremony where JROTC cadets lowered the flag in front of the school to half staff while taps played at 8:45 a.m., the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center 20 years ago.

In her remarks, Bishop said no current students would have been alive for the attacks but that their parents and teachers have “engraved” the message of that day into their hearts. She said last week’s event was organized to commemorate the 2,977 people who died in the 9/11 attacks and the many first responders who are still feeling the mental and physical effects of that day.

“The beautiful city of Madison would not be as beautiful as it is and our nation would not be as strong as it is without our first responders,” Bishop said.

A host of First responders from the County and city of Madison were in attendance with multiple fire trucks, an ambulance and Madison police and sheriff’s deputy’s vehicles.

Bishop thanked them for their attendance and the “amazing world” they have provided those in attendance.

She said she hopes she and her fellow students could “move forward with similar courage.”

The ceremony also featured a flyover by a medical helicopter. Chik-fil-a donated gift cards for the first responders present at the ceremony.

Madison Central Principal Sean Brewer said he was proud of the work McCalip and his JROTC students did.

“This is his first year and when he came in he said that he wanted to put something together to remember those tragic events. He really took the initiative. I think they did a good job,” Brewer said. “Everything was first class.”

McCalip said he has 62 Air Force JROTC students total. He said all but his ninth-grade students were present for the ceremony.

Always alert, McCalip reminded a young cadet walking by to put his hat back on and gave him the quick reminder, “attention to detail.”

He said that he was proud of what his students put on to honor the 343 New York City firefighters, 71 police officers and roughly 55 military personnel at the pentagon that lost their lives during or in response to the terrorist attacks.

“They risked their lives to save others,” McCalip said.

On 9/11, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. 

Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that might have been headed for the U.S. Capitol before passengers overtook the hijackers.

Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism, including the invasion of Iraq.






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