Community pauses to remember on 9/11

SANDPOINT — Bonner County Commissioner Cary Kelly urged the community Thursday to look back in remembrance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, but also to look ahead to prevent future attacks.

“The threat continues,” said Kelly, referring to the scourge of Islamic State extremists and increasing efforts to stamp them out in Syria and Iraq.

Kelly delivered the remarks to a crowd that gathered at Memorial Field to remember the deadly attacks 13 years ago in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Having been born a month after the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kelly said there were two defining events in his generation. The first was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

“This event was defining not only because it demonstrated that our country was vulnerable from within, but it also ushered in a period of violent unrest in America,” said Kelly.

The second event which helped shape and define the American experience was the 9/11 attacks.

“America was no longer safe from foreign attack. At the time, the continental United States had not been attacked for over 200 years, when the British sailed up Chesapeake Bay and burned down the capitol in the War of 1812,” he said.

Thousands died in the 9/11 attacks, including 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers. Kelly noted that more would have perished if not for the heroic insurrection mounted by passengers of Flight 93, which diverted the plane from its intended target and crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

Kelly, a retired decorated U.S. Marine Corps colonel, also remembered all the personnel who served in theaters of war in Iraq and Afghanistan in the years after the attacks.

“Lastly, let us remember that the war goes on. Islamic extremists declared war on America decades ago, but I think we were in a state of denial,” said Kelly, recalling 1983 attacks in Beirut, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.

The Albeni Falls Pipe & Drum Band opened the ceremony with “America the Beautiful” and piper Sam Richardson sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” The group closed with a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

The honor guard was composed of Sandpoint police officers and firefighters, while the color guard consisted of the U.S. Marine Corps League, Clark Fork Boy Scout Troop 307 and the Knights of Columbus.

Master of ceremonies, Rich Crettol, paid special honor to medical professionals.

“They are some of the unsung heroes that came to the aid of many on 9/11 and still do today,” said Crettol, a retired U.S. Coast Guard official.

Life Flight Network of Sandpoint landed its AugustaWestland 199Kx Koala helicopter and its crew were honored, but had to lift off early after receiving a service call. Captain Stuart Eigler of the Sam Owen Fire District, who was awarded the Idaho Medal of Honor for bravery this year, was also a guest of honor.

Pastor Steve Neuder of First Lutheran Church offered the ceremony’s invocation and benediction.

“May the source of steadfast love and strength lead us all on a path toward wholeness and healing, that we might live in harmony with one another and become wellsprings of compassion and strength,” he said in the benediction. “God grant you courage.”