BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2015--A Patriot Day ceremony was held at Bagram Air Field yesterday to mark the 14th anniversary of Sept. 11. Over 100 Soldiers and civilians gathered to remember and honor those who were lost and injured in the 9/11 terror attack.
Guest speaker for the event was Lt. Col. Thomas P. Sullivan, Task Force Renegade commander of the 389th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion from Fort Totten, N.Y, who was on the 95th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
That morning, Sullivan exited the "D" train as usual, got to work, and sat down to draft an email to co-workers, Army Reserve colleagues, and college friends to announce that he and his wife were the proud expectant parents of twins. At about 8:40 a.m., after he sent the email, he walked towards the elevator. His boss' office was on the way so he stopped to tell him the good news. In that five- to 10-minute conversation, he broke eye contact with his boss and watched the plane crash into the North Tower. He immediately yelled for everyone to get on the floor. Once they got up, the evacuation began.
Sullivan, assistant fire warden for the 95th floor, helped usher everyone from that floor to the exit. But not before checking bathrooms and offices first. After his tower was hit, he walked with two co-workers and assisted one that he found at the 50th floor with their exit out of the building.
Ten years later, in 2011, he received the Soldier's Medal, the Army's highest honor for bravery in a noncombat situation.
"The terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed more than a skyline," Sullivan said. "When I came across my three coworkers at the 50th floor who had stopped moving down, I told them 'I don't care what you do but you've got to keep moving.' And we walked, arm in arm. There's very little I remember from that long walk. After about 50 minutes, we made it out to the plaza. I ducked in the doorway of a storefront as the building came down. Once I made it to the Staten Island ferry and saw that it was closed, I, along with large groups of people running away, went towards and then across the Brooklyn Bridge. It took me a couple of hours to make it home on foot."
Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sullivan joined the Army Reserves as a second lieutenant in 1993. He has served tours in Iraq, Kuwait, and now Afghanistan.
The ceremony began with a prelude from the 3rd Infantry Division Band and welcoming remarks from Capt. William Allen, TF Renegade chaplain.
"In every generation there seems to be an event that galvanizes in the minds of the people," Allen said. "For one generation it was the attack on Pearl Harbor, for another it was the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, and for many of us it was Sept. 11, 2001. Most people in those generations could tell you where they were, what they were doing and who they were with when they first heard the news. Like most of us here, Lt. Col. Thomas Sullivan could tell you where he was that day. He was on the 95th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He watched from a window as the first plane hit the North Tower. That day, Lt. Col. Sullivan saved lives and lost friends and colleagues. I would argue that there is no better eyewitness to the events of that day on Bagram or even in Afghanistan."
Patriot Day is observed as the National Day of Service and Remembrance every year on Sept. 11 in memory of the 2,977 killed in the 9/11 attacks.
"Sept. 11 is an emotional day for America," Maj. Gen. Jim Rainey, deputy commander for Support, U.S. Forces Afghanistan and commander of Bagram Air Field, said. "The attacks of 9/11 conducted by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization drove the initial campaign by the United States and international forces to drive the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, a campaign that our current mission here continues. We ask that each of you continue to honor the legacy of the victims who lost their lives that day and pay tribute to their lives by living the Army values. On this National Day of Service and Remembrance, we take up their unfinished work and pay tribute to their lives with our continued service."
The ceremony ended with a firing of volleys by the TF Shadow firing squad, taps by the 3rd ID Band bugler, and a ringing of the bell by the Bagram Air Field Fire Department. The firefighters tolled 3-4-3-1 to signify the 343 firefighters lost on 9/11, plus one in Bagram.
"It is an honor to be here with you today to pay tribute to all those who died and remember all those whose lives changed forever," Sullivan said.
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