KENT—The town paused in somber reflection Wednesday, Sept. 11, to remember the loss of nearly 3,000 American citizens, 2,753 of them at the Twin Towers in Manhattan, on 9/11.
Al Qaeda flew two commercial airplanes into the towers that day, bringing them cascading down. Among the dead was James Andrew Gadiel, whose father lives in Kent.
Planes were used in two other attacks on 9/11: one plowed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the other forced down into a Pennsylvania field. Passengers on the fourth plane grappled with their hijackers, forcing it to crash before it could reach the White House.
Members of the Kent Volunteer Fire Department, the American Legion, town officials, and the public gathered on the town hall lawn adjacent to a memorial for Gadiel, where First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer, a former Naval officer, addressed them.
While recognizing the horrific losses resulting from 9/11, Lindenmayer emphasized positivity, citing the work he sees done every day in Kent to make the town a better place. “I know you, and I know you for what you have done, and I thank you for that,” he said.
He said the recovery of the country in the 23 years since 9/11 has been a “triumph over tragedy,” and he praised the young people serving today “to make the world a little safer and a little better.”
“This is a small bit of time when we can rededicate ourselves to that remembrance and being positive in our community, not looking at our differences, but that we are neighbors.”
—Marty Lindenmayer, first selectman
“Today we recognize those 3,000 people who died on 9/11 and echo the remembrance and the positivity that we can take from that, that we are not going to be defeated, that this country will stand up,” he said.
“We know the spirit of spirit of America is there—sometimes it is a little bit difficult to see, I know, but it is there,” he said. “This is a small bit of time when we can rededicate ourselves to that remembrance and being positive in our community, not looking at our differences, but that we are neighbors.”
The town retired the flag that has flown in front of town hall, “every day, in rain and shine,” during the ceremony and raised a new flag, symbolic of a new beginning in Lindenmayer’s words.
It was raised to full mast and then lowered to half mast by Kent Volunteer Fire Department member Shelby McBride and American Legion member Ken Johnson.
The “Star Spangled Banner “ played as the flag was raised, and listeners saluted or put hands over hearts in salutation. “Taps” sounded in the background.
The ceremony closed with a benediction from the Rev. Richard Clark, rector of St. Andrew’s Church. He prayed that God will sustain the people with “hope and peace that passes all understanding.”
