At 8:46, 9:03, 9:45 and 10:10 yesterday morning, bells rang and silence blanketed some parts of the University of Massachusetts campus.
Under grey but brightening skies, some individuals and members of campus groups observed moments of silence – remaining reticent as the bells from the Old Chapel sounded.
Those four moments of observation – each held as equally important – marked 10 years since a day of infamy in American history. A day when four planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a vacant field in Pennsylvania.
At UMass and in the town of Amherst, several groups and community members gathered to remember that day – Sept. 11, 2001 – and to mourn those who were lost. Some groups put up American flags; others held vigils and remembrance ceremonies. Some of the events featured speakers; others did not.
There were, of course, those too who seemingly carried on as they normally would on a Sunday morning. Small groups of friends walked around campus together. Some chatted over Sunday brunch in the dining halls.
But all of the events and remembrances that did occur featured similar undertones. They all served as markers and reminders of that fateful day – and as memorials to honor those who died in the attacks and those who responded and served after the attacks.
At one of the events occurring in the early hours of yesterday morning, members of the UMass Republican Club and the UMass Democrats came together to raise small American flags on the lawn in front of Campus Center. The small contingent then marched into town with some of the flags.
That remembrance ceremony was a time for members of organizations on opposite ends of the political spectrum to come together, to unify and put politics aside, said Nate Lamb, the president of the UMass Republican Club. And, he said, it was also opportunity for members of the campus community to take a slice of time out of their day and mourn the victims of the attacks.
“I just think that people should take a few moments out of their day to remember 9/11,” said Lamb, who is also a senator in the undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA).
This year’s ceremony and placing of the flags was the second such event held by the two organizations. There were 290 flags placed on the lawn, according to Jarred Rose, a member of the UMass Democrats who also serves as the speaker of the SGA Senate. The Young Americas Foundation – an organization composed of young people who strive to promote conservative ideals – helped to assist the organizations in acquiring the flags.
This year’s ceremony, members of the organizations said, was especially moving because of the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
“It was particularly poignant this year, given the 10th anniversary of the attacks,” said Dan Stratford, the secretary of the UMass Democrats. “And it’s a time to meditate to see how our country’s changed for better or for worse.”
In addition to the flag placing ceremony, a number of other events took place on campus and in town yesterday and throughout the weekend. Some of them featured members of local fire, law enforcement and government agencies. Others included members of the clergy.
At one event on campus yesterday, members of the UMass Air Force ROTC held a standing vigil by a flag post outside Memorial Hall. The memorial, which was led by student members of the branch, lasted for about two hours and took about 15 hours to plan.
“This is a time that we need to remember those who were killed in that tragedy and the brave people who responded to it,” said Lt. Col. Scott Huber, who oversees the UMass branch of the Air Force ROTC.
The vigil was also an occasion to honor and recognize those who died in the tragedy and those who subsequently died while fighting for the country, according to Sean Baker, the cadet wing commander of the branch and a senior at UMass.
“It’s one of those days where we all knew where we were when we found out,” said Baker of Sept. 11. “It’s important to recognize that.”
Yesterday’s vigil and flag placing ceremonies were two events that capped off a weekend on the UMass campus that featured a number of remembrance ceremonies. On Friday, about 50 students gathered around the steps of the Student Union at noon to listen to the speeches of students and religious figures in the UMass community during an event called “Interfaith Commemoration of 9/11.”
“I stopped because I saw the crowd gathering and saw it was a Sept. 11 thing,” said sophomore Kevin Eykholt, who attended the event. “I wanted to listen and find out what it was about as well as hear what people had to say about it.”
The event – which according to Larry Goldbaum, director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life – was held on Friday due to a University policy the dictates open, outdoor events must end before 1 p.m. and occur on a weekday – focused mostly on the tragedy of Sept. 11. It did, however, also touch upon the unity it stirred within the nation and the hope that the country will move forward to build a better future.
Fifteen speakers from the SGA, administration and campus religious community spoke at the event.
Some of the speeches focused on remembering the day of Sept. 11, such as one by Peter Baglow, the campus minister with Campus Crusade for Christ, who personally knew Jessica Sachs, a 2001 graduate of UMass who was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the World Trade Center. Others shared simple prayers for peace. Shaina Rastegari – a member of the UMass Baha’i Club, which is an organization founded in peace – recited the Baha’I peace prayer.
And some of the speakers spoke of their pride in the UMass community, such as Noman Khanani, the president of the UMass Muslim Students Association, who said he had never experienced any prejudice on campus and noted that he thought that is a good sign for the future.
A number of other events occurred in the area over the weekend – with many taking place around or near the Amherst town commons.
Yesterday, about 60 people gathered on the commons – located outside the town hall – at a ceremony that featured several members of the town’s police and fire force, in addition to members of town government.
“Ten years ago, the unthinkable happened and our nation was shaken to the core,” Amherst Select Board Chairwoman Stephanie O’Keeffe said in remarks during the ceremony. O’Keeffe noted that the gathering was also a time to mourn those who perished because of the attacks and an occasion to reflect upon the heroism and unity that ordinary people executed in the days after the tragedy.
Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone, Fire Chief Tim Nelson and Fire Department Chaplain Bruce Arbour also spoke at the remembrance event, which included a bell ringing, a rendition of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes and an observance of a national moment of silence.
Prior to the beginning of the ceremony at the commons, participants in the weekly “Amherst Vigil for Peace and Justice in a Nuclear Free World” demonstration – which has taken place in the area of the commons each Sunday at noon for the past 33 years –distributed literature to passersby advocating for an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and other areas of the world.
Later in the day yesterday, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Quaker, Muslim and Unitarian Universal religious parishes gathered in an interfaith ceremony around the town commons. They marched around the perimeter of the commons before heading into the Grace Episcopal Church for a ceremony called “Memory, Healing and Hope: An Interfaith Gathering on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11.”
And last night, another group of townspeople gathered in front of a large American flag draped over the commons at a ceremony. At that remembrance memorial, lights of tribute symbolizing the replication of the twin towers which has hovered over New York each year on the anniversary were displayed. A small memorial featuring items that represented each of the three crash sites was also setup.
The shadow of the twin towers was projected over the flag at the ceremony, which was organized by Amherst residents Kevin Joy and Larry Kelley and featured a number of speakers.
Those who spoke included Purple Heart recipients Kevin English, who fought in Vietnam, and Rob McAllister, who served in Iraq. Several other veterans and residents also offered comments at the ceremony and reflected on the day.
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said that those who offer reflection on the day should remember individual lives lost in the attacks, not names on pieces of papers or numbers calculated about those who perished.
“It is important to remember 9/11 as a human tragedy,” said Sullivan, “to honor a real life lost, not a government statistic.”
Katie Landeck contributed to this report.
William Perkins can be reached at [email protected].
Correction (9/12): A portion of an earlier version of this story written by a secondary reporter erroneously stated where UMass alum Jessica Sachs was when she died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Correction (9/14): A portion of an earlier version of this story written by a secondary reporter erroneously stated that Iman Khozouee spoke on behalf of the UMass Baha’i Club at Friday’s ceremony on campus. Khozouee was scheduled to speak at the event, but Shaina Rastegari spoke instead.
