H-ton Observes Patriot Day & Day of Service and Remembrance

Last week students around Huntington UFSD observed the events of September 11, 2001 in a variety of ways all with an educational underpinning. By two acts of Congress passed eight years apart, the day is now designated as both Patriot Day and as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

No current Huntington UFSD student was alive on that terrible day when the terrorist attacks played out so teachers have helped inform those on every grade level just what happened and how it changed the world.

There were different methods of observance at all eight district buildings. One example comes from Washington Primary School teacher Melissa Mazzalonga’s second grade classroom.

“In remembrance of the events that took place on September 11, 2001, the class discussed and wrote about heroes; what makes a hero and who their hero is,” Washington Principal Dr. Michelle Richards said. Students took the assignment seriously and what they came up with was touching.

“Today, we honor the brave Americans who met the terror of September 11 with extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice,” states this year’s presidential proclamation. “In our darkest hour — when terrorists believed they could bring our country to its knees — those Americans proved that our nation’s unbreakable spirit would prevail. In the moments, days, and years after the attacks on September 11, heroes were forged.  Firefighters, police officers, and first responders ran into the inferno of jet fuel and debris at Ground Zero, risking their own lives to save the lives of others.  Service members and civilians rushed into the fiery breach at the Pentagon again and again to rescue their colleagues. The patriotic passengers of Flight 93 made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent their plane from being used to take more innocent souls. And in big cities, rural towns, suburbs, and Tribal communities, hundreds of thousands of American hands went up — ready to serve our nation in uniform.

More than 3,000 Americans lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Many more thousands of Americans volunteered for service in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

“We owe these patriots of the 9/11 Generation a debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay,” states the presidential proclamation. “They were deployed to Afghanistan to make sure the United States would not be attacked again. They served in Iraq and other war zones to defend our democracy and deny terrorists safe haven.”