Residents Asked To Remember 9/11 Tragedy And Unity In Aftermath In Wheeling Ceremony
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WHEELING — Ohio Valley residents were asked to remember the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, during the Community-Wide Sept. 11 Service of Remembrance at Wheeling Heritage Port on Friday.
They were also asked to remember how the country become unified because the tragedy that killed 2,977 people.
“The day was shattered by the terrible news. It came in slowly and then like an avalanche,” said Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom.
“All of us as Americans stand united today in remembrance of the way we stood united that day. May we recapture this sense of unity to transform our community, our state and our nation and our world from a place of discord to a place of harmony.
“From a place of violence to a place of peace. Help us God be a blessing unto our fellow human beings, our neighbors and the strangers who dwell amongst us. That all of us might share the blessing of liberty,” he continued. “And the Lord watch over our goings out and our comings in from this time forth and forever more. Amen.”
In addition to Lief, other faith leaders participated in the ceremony including the Rev. Devin Ames, pastor of First English Lutheran Church, who prayed for first responders; the Rev. Ken Hardway, pastor of First Christian Church, who prayed for the military; the Venerable Joshua Saxe, pastor of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, who prayed for the nation; The Most Rev. Evelio Menjivar, Bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Catholic Diocese, who prayed for peace; and the Rev. Erica Hartley, pastor of Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church, who prayed for victims of terror and defenders of freedom.
Lou Vargo, emergency management liaison for the Wheeling Fire and Police Departments, presided over a wreath ceremony that included his recounting the day’s events involving the commercial airliners used to smash into the World Trade Center Towers in NYC, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, because passengers overtook the terrorists inside the cockpit.
As Vargo read what happened, corresponding wreaths were presented by Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder, Wheeling Fire Chief Jim Blazier, Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger and Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft.
The colors were presented by members of the Wheeling Fire and Police Departments’ Honor Guard. Madison Elementary School fifth graders helped lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Members of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra provided patriotic music. Magruder provided welcome remarks.
The Wheeling Fire Department used a ladder truck to display a large American flag on Water Street for the ceremony.
“May the day come soon when violence shall be no more. When evil shall give way to goodness. When war shall be forgotten … May this day come soon in our own day and our own lives with your help almighty God and through our hard work. Amen,” Menjivar said in his prayer for peace.