Police, fire, EMS, military personnel, elected officials and local citizens attended the 200 Club of Burlington County’s remembrance ceremony for 9/11 at the Community House of Moorestown last week.
“As time has gone on, you see less and less of these types of services, and it’s really important that we remember what happened on 9/11,” said Stephen Raymond, president of the 200 Club. “It’s our job to educate people on what happened that day. For those of us who were alive and witnessed it, it’s our job to keep the memory alive.
“We made a promise that day that we would never forget,” he added, “and this room, all of you, coming out 23 years later, that’s us fulfilling that promise that we will never forget.”
On the morning of 9/11, 19 terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center. A third plane hit the Pentagon, and after learning of those attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane overtook the terrorists and forced the aircraft to crash into an empty field in western Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.
Nearly 3,000 people from 93 countries were killed. It was the worst attack on American soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
“In one single moment, life can change, and never be the same,” noted Peter Clifford, trustee member of the 200 Club and fire police captain in the Moorestown department. “Tonight, when you go home, reach out to a family member and hug them tight, because we never know when we may come home.”
CSM James W. Van Zlike was the ceremony’s featured speaker. Van Zlike’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC), the Iraq Campaign Medal (two Campaign Stars) and the Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal. He joined the Army in July 2001 and attended combat training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“On this day 23 years ago, the skyline of New York City was altered, and our hearts were forever scarred by the events that unfolded,” Van Zlike expressed. “The attacks on Sept. 11 were a brutal act of terrorism that sought to divide us and to break us. Yet in the face of unspeakable tragedy, we witnessed something remarkable. We witnessed courage.”
He then emphasized the first responders on that day.
“The legacy of the first responders on 9/11 is not just in their sacrifice, but what they showed us about who we are as a nation,” Van Zlike emphasized. “In those moments of greatest peril, they showed us that when everything falls apart, there are those who will stand up. They taught us that the values of service, of sacrifice, of love for one’s community are not just ideals to strive by, but are living, breathing parts of our society.
“Let us never forget the sacrifices of our first responders,” he added. “On 9/11, they showed us their very best of humanity in the midst of the worst. Your legacy and their legacy lives on not just in memorials or ceremonies, but in everyday acts of kindness, courage and service that makes our country strong.”
