Remembrance ceremony honors U.S. Navy who gave the ultimate sacrifice
A remembrance ceremony was held at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro Monday morning.
The special event was to honor those individuals in the U.S. Navy who gave the ultimate sacrifice on this tragic day, 16 years ago.
News 11 attended the ceremony to capture more.
Close to 3,000 people were killed and over 6,000 people injured in the attacks on September 11th.
Allies from the United Kingdom were present at the private event, as they mourned the 67 U.K. citizens who were killed.
“The emotional pains of September 11, 2001 still linger on today. It’s the most dramatic experience most of our young generation has experienced,” said Command Master Chief Jeremy Embree, U.S. Navy.
After a brief moment of silence, a timeline of the attacks was read to those in attendance.
“At 0846 the first plane struck the north tower, 17 minutes later, at 0903 the second plane struck the south tower. 51 minutes later, after the initial attack at 0937 flight 77 struck the pentagon. At 0959 the south world trade center tower fell. Four minutes later at 1003 flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 1028 north world trade center tower fell,” presented Petty Officer Ross, U.S. Navy.
A special guest who was working at the pentagon during the time of the attack shared his memories from that morning.
“I did not see what occurred at the pentagon till two o’clock that day, shows you how big the pentagon is, and there is 27,000 people that work in there. The next day we went back to work, we could still smell the smoke,” said Rob Moffat, Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer with The U.S. Navy
“When I recall the selflessness, the teamwork and the patriotism I witnessed in the aftermath of 9/11, I’m reminded of how our nation rose to the challenge of World War II after Pearl Harbor. This unity of spirit and purpose represents the very best elements of our greatest strength, our people,” said Commanding Officer Capt. Brent Alfonzo, Naval Air Facility, El Centro.
The ceremony ended by honoring the navy personnel that died by reading their names out loud.
