Members of East Liberty County American Legion Post 321 hosted their annual 9/11 Observance, this past Saturday at the Riceboro City Park.
Attendees at the event turned on electric candles and placed them in front photos which simply said military, police and other first responders died on that tragic day at the hands of terrorists. The observance lasted 30 minutes.
American Legion, Department of Georgia JV Commander Dennis Fitzgerald, welcomed Guest Speaker, Major AJ Cullura, 3rd ID, who spoke about his reasons for joining the US Army just two days after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Other Guests were: Liberty County Sheriff Will Bowman and his Chief Deputy, Max Brown; Riceboro Council members, Pearl Axson, Louise Brown and John Young; members of The Riceboro Fire Department, numerous veterans and citizens of Liberty County.
Fitzgerald said the turnout was lower than anticipated but the event still emphasized the fact that Americans came together then and, “We need to rekindle that American Spirit.”
“We are in times of strife and conflict and we just need to come together as a community and as a nation,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said today’s youth need to be educated on this tragic event and others in order to learn from past mistakes and avoid repeating history. He said he had relatives who were firefighters in New York who were killed while rescuing others.
“This still gets to me,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine what they went through. I know what I went through in trying to get up there to see them. But I can’t really imagine being there.”
Fitzgerald is originally from upstate New York, roughly 45 miles from where the Twin Towers once stood. He said he visited the site of the fallen towers three weeks after the attack and was overcome with rage at what had occurred on American soil.
Post Commander Jeff Bowen gave a special recognition to the members of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Band and Honor Guard who did an exceptional job in providing music and the presentation of our Nation’s Colors.
U.S. Army Soldiers and civilians of the 3rd Infantry Division, alongside Fort Stewart police and fire emergency services personnel, held a 9/11 “Patriot Day” Remembrance Ceremony at the Alwyn Cashe Memorial Garden on Fort Stewart, Georgia, Sept. 10, 2021, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
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