FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- The Fort Jackson community came together Tuesday to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The ceremony in front of Post Headquarters featured displays to honor emergency responders and service members.
"Today we remember," said Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts, Fort Jackson commanding general, during the event. "We remember those nearly 3,000 men, women and children lost in the attacks of Sept. 11. We honor more than 6,000 service members who gave their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as tens of thousands of our wounded warriors and gold star families of our fallen comrades."
Roberts encouraged those in attendance to remember the American resilience demonstrated after the attacks.
"Those who attacked us sought to deprive our nation of the very ideals for which we stand. But in the aftermath of this tragedy, the American people kept alive the virtues and values that make us who we are and who will always be," Roberts said.
"Today, the legacy of 9/11 is one of rescue workers rushing to the scene, firefighters charging up stairways, passengers storming the cockpit -- courageous individuals who put their lives on the line to save people whom they didn't know," he said. "It is also a legacy of those who stood up to serve in our armed forces. We honor the more than 2 million American service members who have gone off to war, leaving behind the comfort of home and family to defend this great country. Many returned with dark memories of distant places and fallen friends. And many will not return at all."
Roberts also called on attendees to renew their commitment to all service members.
"We'll do everything in our power to keep America safe," he said. "Let us renew the true spirit of that day -- not the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good; not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save and to serve and to build."
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