FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - The 10th anniversary of the events of 9/11 was a significant event commemorated by ceremonies both large and small around the country. Fort Wainwright, too, offered an opportunity for Soldiers, first responders, family members, civilian employees and friends in the community to reflect on the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of people and forever changed the lives of so many Americans.
The "9/11 Remembrance Ceremony," Sept. 9 at the Northern Lights Chapel and Monterey Lakes Memorial Park drew more than 220 community members and featured tributes to those lost during the terrorist attacks, those who have been killed in fighting the Global War on Terrorism since the attacks, those who continue to serve in the military and as first responders -- firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians -- and surviving family members and friends who have lost loved ones in the 10 years since it all began.
Each element of the ceremony from the invocation, scripture readings and first responders prayers to reflections from surviving family members and the candle-lighting at Monterey Lakes Memorial Park echoed the theme of remembrance and honoring the fallen.
Victor Sutherland, son of Staff Sgt. Stephen Sutherland, who died in 2005 while deployed to Iraq, was nine years-old when 9/11 occurred. He told the somber crowd that at the time of the attacks he didn't think the events would affect his life.
"Little did I know that it would take the events from that day another four years for it to finally affect me," he said.
Sutherland's message was simple: "Do not pity us." Instead, he said the anniversary should be a celebration of the lives of the fallen - both those who died during the attacks and those who have died in fighting since then.
"I am no longer afraid because we live in the greatest nation in the universe," he said. "A nation where free men and women decided that it was their responsibility to defend; to defend the neighbor they've never met, the religion they don't follow, the rights we have as Americans, their family, us."
Honoring those who have chosen to serve as first responders and as Soldiers or other military personnel is how Sutherland urged attendees to reflect on the anniversary. "I'm proud to say that my father was a part of this community, sacrificing so much for this country that I knew he loved, that we all loved. What better way to show your love for something than to be willing to die for it? And on Nov. 12, 2005, my father did just that. He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could continue to live; so that there would never be another Pearl Harbor or 9/11; so that we can say our prayers at night to whomever we pray to; so that you could go to your son's or daughter's soccer game; so that his Green Bay Packers could one day win the Super Bowl again; so that I could one day live out my dreams."
Michelle Benjamin, Fort Wainwright's Survivor Outreach Services coordinator, sang "Amazing Grace" during the ceremony and said that not a day goes by that her life is not still affected by the events of 9/11. "I work with family members every day who are living with this and also, my husband is currently deployed so I see it on the personal side, too," she said. "And it just reminds me that we are not promised tomorrow. No one is. But I can hold on to today."
Sutherland said that is what he has come to learn, as well, and he hoped the 9/11 commemoration would give this gift to everyone else. "Let us remember how to live," he said. "Live for all those who were taken too early that day. Live life to the fullest taking advantage of every 24 hours we are blessed with. If we truly live like there is no tomorrow then we will never need another reminder again; a reminder to love, to laugh, to cherish, to dream, to cry, to feel pain. Because to feel all of this, you'll know you're alive. You'll know that those who were lost a decade ago did not die in vain."
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