Honoring victims of 9/11
One of two wreaths placed in front of the 9/11 memorial in the lower portion of Washington Mall in South Strabane Township stands out as the American flag waves above at half staff after a memorial service early Thursday on the 13th anniversary of terror attacks on American soil.
Emergency responders line up in front of emergency vehicles, and a large crowd gathers in front of the memorial in the lower portion of Washington Mall in South Strabane Township Thursday in remembrance of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. At right, one of two wreaths placed in front of the 9/11 memorial stands out as the American flag waves above at half-staff after a memorial service.
A large crowd gathers in front of the memorial in the lower portion of Washington Mall in South Strabane Township for a memorial service early Thursday on the anniversary of 9/11.
John Patterson remembers getting ready to start his shift as a paramedic at Ambulance and Chair Service on a sunny morning 13 years ago.
The veteran of almost 40 years in the emergency medical services field recalled checking his unit before heading out for the first call of the day. He also recited the EMS prayer. Patterson answered a few calls and returned to the ambulance garage when he noticed a buzz of activity coming from the back as several people gathered around a television.
“I saw smoke coming out of one of the towers. I didn’t know what was going on,” he said of the event unfolding at New York City’s World Trade Center. “Then, a second plane flew into a second tower. I didn’t know how to react.”
Patterson spoke to a crowd of people who braved the rain Thursday morning to honor the almost 3,000 people who perished in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and on an airplane near Shanksville in Somerset County Sept. 11, 2001, during a memorial service at a monument at Washington Mall.
Firefighters from about a dozen area departments and police from several local departments were in attendance, and laid wreaths at the monument in remembrance of the firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel who died rescuing victims.
“Nothing would prepare me for that loss of life,” Patterson said.
He then learned of the airplane that crashed into the Pentagon, knowing a friend he had in the Fairfax, Va., fire department would likely be responding.
“Then, we got a call to a remote location in Shanksville and we were to respond on standby, just in case,” Patterson said. “We were on our way when we were told to return to our base. It was with heavy hearts we turned around. There were no survivors in that place called Shanksville.”
“God bless the heroes and victims of that fateful day,” he added. “And pray for the police, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, doctors, military and our families who keep the home fires going.”
While Patterson returned to work in the Washington area that day, the concern of what happened in the country was evident as he attended to worried patients.
South Strabane Township police Chief Don Zofchak called 9/11 a “day to remember to remember.”
“We need to remember those who perished 13 years ago,” Zofchak said. “We need to remain vigilant, especially with what is going on in the Middle East with ISIS.”