The city of Arlington held a small service in remembrance of the events of last year. I, and the other 3 people in my office, decided to attend. Last year, I never really got to do anything concrete regarding the events that unfolded down the street from us. I remember, on our long ride home (it took us 4-1/2 hours to get from Arlington to Alexandria), wanting to donate blood (something I’d never done before), but we heard on the news that blood centers were being overwhelmed with donors.
So, this morning, the four of us walked down Wilson Blvd. to Gateway Park, at the foot of the Key Bridge, which leads into Georgetown. There were, by my own eyeball estimate, about 300-400 people in attendance. There was nothing gaudy–just a podium with a large (50’) scaffolding behind it, and a simple banner, white letters on black, “9-11 Arlington Remembers.”
First we heard from some talking head from the local NBC affilliate. I don’t know her name, and honestly, she didn’t have anything of substance to say. But she introduced the chairman of the Arlington County Board.
His remarks were short, and very simple. No talk about the people who perpetrated this terror, no tough talk about kicking ass, no jingoism, none of that. He quite simply talked about the fact that the event happened, recognized that it was the emergency workers of Arlington County who were first on the scene and remained all throughout, and remembered those who died.
We then held, at the same time it was occurring at the ceremony just a couple miles away at the Pentagon, a moment of silence, exactly at the moment that American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. It was, for that moment, nearly silent, aside from, ironically, some distant air traffic that had taken off from Reagan National Airport.
After the moment had ended, a large, 30’ x 60’ American flag was unfurled from the top of the scaffolding. It’s very windy today, so it really waved. It made me feel proud, and I’m not usually one of the flag-waving types. Then, the chairman led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. I recited it along with everyone else, quietly leaving out “under God.” No big deal, and nobody said anything to me. Afterwards, a Marine Corps Choir soloist with an amazingly full baritone sang the National Anthem.
Then came the closing of the ceremony. The Franciscan Center in Wilmington, DE, had brought a large bronze bell. Really large, like Liberty Bell-sized, and cast in 1895. The bell was to be tolled 183 times – once for each man, woman and child who had died at the Pentagon site. The first group of people who were to begin tolling it were members of the Arlington County and city fire, police, EMT and other emerency services. Each in turn solemnly stepped up, grabbed the rope attached to the clapper, and rang the bell once, then let the next person take on the task.
I’m glad I was wearing sunglasses, because I was crying by this point. As each uniformed man or woman tolled the bell, they passed right past us in a sort of recessional, to gather in a group on the other side of the park. There was a woman standing next to me, who appeared to be around 35. I don’t know if she had any special relationship with anyone involved in 9-11, but as each uniformed person passed by, she made it a point to step out, shake their hand, and say, “Thank you.” I’m glad she did; I could see that they appreciated it.
That bell tolled for a really long time.