A solemn day

Across the South Shore, people gather to honor Sept. 11 victims and Americans fighting terror

Patriot Ledger staff

Donna Piche of Pembroke wipes a tear during last night’s candlelight vigil.

At memorial observances Monday in Braintree, Scituate and Plymouth, local residents paused to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At 8:46 a.m., five years to the minute after the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center, South Shore residents joined in a moment of silence.

About 40 people attended a ceremony in front of Braintree Town Hall. Police and firefighters stood on the Memorial Mall as the flag was lowered to half staff, after the ringing of the bell at 10:06, the time the first tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

“We come this morning with heavy hearts to remember the innocent lives lost on 9/11,” said acting Veterans Agent June Newman.

Retired Army Brigadier Gen. John Carlson of Braintree said the nation will never forget the lesson it learned Sept. 11.

‘‘We got the message that morning that it takes more to preserve liberty than it does to get it.

‘‘It is America’s duty to preserve the way of life and freedoms that we have,’’ he said.

‘‘They may kill some of us, but they can’t kill the idea of liberty.’’

EMILY J. NELSON photos

Life Scout Ricky Freitas, 14, of Pembroke, plays taps last night during the candlelight vigil in Pembroke honoring victims of Sept. 11 and soldiers fighting overseas.

In North Plymouth, 100 people gathered at the Sept. 11 monument at South Spooner Street.

Jeffrey Laforest of American Airlines, which lost one plane on Sept. 11, delivered a moving performance of ‘‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’’

‘‘Many lost loved ones on Sept. 11,’’ Town Manager Mark Sylvia told the audience. ‘‘Plymouth was no exception. We grieve with the family of Jennifer Kane, but through it all we have persevered.’’

In the Humarock section of Scituate, two dozen people turned out for a service at the post office and fire station.

‘‘It’s important not to forget,’’ said Dedham resident Linda Hurley, who stopped after a weekend visit to her sister.

‘‘I’m still in disbelief that it ever happened.’’

The somber notes of a bagpipe were punctuated by postmaster Bruce Westcott announcing the times two of the hijacked planes took off from Logan International Airport.

‘‘Ladies and gentlemen, it is now 7:59. Five years ago today, American Airlines Flight 11 departed Boston for Los Angeles,’’ he said.

‘‘It brings it all back, said Bob Brian of Humarock. ‘‘It’s a good reminder for us.’’

Stewart Fultz of Humarock played ‘‘Taps’’ on his trumpet.

Among the local residents who attended were Mike Cragin, the uncle of a flight attendant from Connecticut who died on Flight 11, and Frank Adley, a retired American Airlines pilot from Scituate who helped to hire a stewardess who ended up losing her life in the attacks.

On Monday night, 150 people attended a candlelight vigil in Pembroke to honor servicemen and women, veterans and the victims of Sept. 11.

Marine 1st Lt. Brian McPhillips, 25, of Pembroke, who was killed April 4, 2003, in a firefight while advancing on Baghdad, was also honored.

Vietnam veteran Art Stone of Hanson and his wife, Deb, rode their motorcycles to the town green outside the Community Center to participate.

Brianna Lee-Bowens, 4, sits atop the shoulders of her grandfather, Ed Snow.

Their 26-year-old-son, Garrett, joined the Army soon after the Sept. 11 attacks and served in Iraq.

‘‘When the planes flew into the twin towers, I told him that we were watching the beginning of World War III,’’ Stone said. ‘‘Do you have any idea what this means? We are going to war.’’

Several onlookers waved miniature American flags as a color guard of Boy Scouts from troops 43 and 105 carrying flags of U.S. military branches marched in to kickoff the ceremony. Red, white and blue balloons tied to restraints marked the town green and yellow ribbons were attached to trees. Life’s A Pitch, an a cappella chorus, sang God Bless America, America the Beautiful and other patriotic songs.

The vigil was organized by the Pembroke Military Support Group.

Support group members also read ‘‘A Soldier’s Prayer,’’ ‘‘What is a Soldier?’’ and other writings.

‘‘It was a very good ceremony,’’ said Paul Brosseau, 76, of Pembroke, commander of the local American Legion post and a Korean War veteran.

Cheryl Poole, 49, of East Bridgewater, a member of the Pembroke Military Support Group, said the vigil called much-needed attention to American soldiers fighting and dying overseas.

‘‘It’s hard to put into words,’’ said Poole, whose son, Jacob Gurney, 25, served with the Army’s 82nd Airborne division in Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘‘You hear all the patriotic songs. It brings tears to your eyes.’’

Poole said she was proud of her son’s commitment to serve his country. ‘‘He said, ‘Mom, somebody has got to do this,’ ’’ she said.

Julie Caruso, co-chairman of the support group, said she was pleased with those who showed up for the vigil.

‘‘The people who came knew it was the right thing to do,’’ she said. ‘‘I am proud of our town and the people in the group. It makes me feel good that people aren’t forgetting.’’

The Pembroke support group, which has about 20 active members, was first organized during the 1991 Gulf War. After disbanding, they re-formed following the Sept. 11 attacks.

‘‘Nine-eleven was the catalyst to start the group again,’’ Caruso said.

Dennis Tatz may be reached at dtatz@ledger.com.

Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Monday, September 11, 2006

America may never be same

The Enterprise published this editorial on Sept. 13, 2001 in the wake of the terrorist attack two days earlier.

THIS was not Pearl Harbor, which dragged America out of isolated comfort and into a world conflict. This was not Oklahoma City, which awakened America to the threat of home-grown terrorism.

The coordinated attacks on New York and Washington Tuesday were an act of war that forever changed

America’s place in the world. If the World Trade Center can be destroyed, no corner of this country is safe. We have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. So now it is time to stand tall, dispense with the niceties of diplomacy and meet war with war.

It certainly complicates matters that, today and publicly, the enemy has no face. If it turns out to be Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, we must destroy him and take military action against the country of Afghanistan, which is harboring him. If the terror originated elsewhere, we must spare no firepower. We take this course not for the sake of retaliation, but to try to prevent these events from reoccurring. Anyone who really believes we have seen the last of such attacks is naive. The wonder is that it has not happened before and more frequently.

It will be a long time before the body count is completed. The total is likely to be in the many thousands - far more than Oklahoma City or even Pearl Harbor. But the numbers are irrelevant. Our blissful isolation has been pierced and the country will never be the same, It will be a long time before someone boards an airplane or takes an elevator to the top floor of a skyscraper without apprehension. The people who died on the four crashed airplanes - the rich, the famous, the husband or wife, the kid next door - are so random, they could be our own family. The names of the many thousands more that are revealed in the next days and weeks will add to the randomness of fate.

America is facing one of its greatest tests - no less than that presented by a fractured Union in 1861 and Germany and Japan eight decades later. How we react to this attack will set the course of this country for generations.

It will take all our wisdom and experience to balance the civil rights of Americans with the need for more realistic security. When the war in which we have been engaged in completed, we must ensure that the world is a safer place and that the United States has maintained its principles of freedom alongside its place as a political and military stalwart.

View editorial cartoon

To protect and defend

First came the shock. The tears followed quickly.

Understanding is a different matter - beyond our grasp. The idea that hatred of America and what America stands for could cause zealots to plot to kill thousands of ordinary people - and then gloat - remains confounding.

Pity those whose lives are driven by wrath.

Pity the innocent left without fathers, husbands, wives, lovers, children.

What have we done in five years to change things? What have we learned? How have we changed? What can we expect?

The answers are incomplete, and unsatisfactory.

We did what mighty, wealthy nations do when attacked. We struck back, first at Afghanistan, which looked like a quick victory over a Taliban that was spreading the creed of anti-American hate and breeding terrorists.

A flurry of democracy followed and now a resurgent Taliban is in control of more than 90 percent of the world’s opium trade.

Then a plan to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq - quickly - and spread democracy throughout the Middle East. But it wasn’t quick and the bloodshed there is greater now than ever. If the fighting between religious factions is not a civil war, it’s a very good imitation.

American families have buried over 2,600 men and women killed in Iraq.

On the home front, everyday life has changed in small ways - mostly related to air travel. It’s a hassle and a nuisance, but most of us are resigned to inconveniences.

Our psyches have changed. Most of us know, when we choose to think about it, that the world is an infinitely more dangerous place than it was five years ago yesterday. The number of terrorists keeps growing, as do the incubation laboratories. It’s not a question simply of whether someone from a hostile country or group can infiltrate borders. Evidence of home-grown terror cells - in Spain and in Britain - is one of the most ominous of recent developments in the terror war. Last week a video on an Islamic militant web site showed an American al-Qaida member exhorting other Americans to take up the cause, at home.

Our self-image too has changed, and our image before the world. War time inevitably causes painful choices and self-examination in a democratic society. Maintaining core values - the right to be detained only with charges and the right to an open trial - while waging a global war is not easy. Once again America faces a fundamental question: Will we sacrifice personal liberties in the name of safety? That is a concession America must reject.

Are we safer than we were five years ago? Government officials - national, state and local - responsible for public safety would say we are. But that’s impossible to measure. President Bush points to the fact there’s been no second attack on U.S. soil; plans have been interrupted. At the same time, law enforcement and national security personnel fully expect another attack will occur.

We are safer one day at a time.

This is a war like none we’ve fought in the past and it’s not clear we’re fighting this one in the right way. The forces arrayed against America have strength in numbers but not in persuasiveness. The president is right in saying they offer nothing but death, while democratic nations inspire hope.

Sept. 11 is a day to remember the fallen, to reflect on the special qualities that cause others to want to bury us - the qualities we want the world to remember when they hear the word America, the qualities we need to protect along with our lives.