Annual campus ceremony honors 9/11 victims

2,977 flags for 2,977 lives lost. 

Americans bore witness to fatal terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001 — a day that will never be forgotten. 

For the 10th year in a row, Lehigh held a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the victims and their families. The ROTC Steel Battalion and Lehigh Student Senate XXXVII organized the event at the UC Flag Pole early Wednesday morning. 

In his opening remarks, Axel Ekberg, ROTC cadet and the president of the armed forces support club, spoke about the loss the nation suffered on Sept. 11, 2001. 

“(It) shook this country and her people to its core,” Ekberg said in his opening remarks. “It is a pain that is still felt to this day.”

As the horror and destruction unfolded, he said acts of “unparalleled bravery and selflessness” by police officers, paramedics, firefighters, volunteers and everyday Americans who came together in the face of terror to help others were witnessed. In weeks and months following the attacks, thousands of Americans stepped up to defend their nation in the military, which Ekberg said demonstrates the United States’ greatest strength as a nation: unity. 

As the flag is raised during the event, he said it’s not only to honor the memory of those who passed on Sept. 11, 2001 but also to act as a showcase of solidarity as a community and as a country. 

“Let this flag remind us of the bonds that tie us together, the aspirations that unite us as a nation and the dream for a better tomorrow,” Ekberg said.

Before turning attendees’ attention to the Steel Battalion Color Guard as they raised the flag to half-mast, Lieutenant Colonel Preston Jackson, MSIV instructor and professor of military science and leadership, recalled his experience on Sept. 11, 2001. 

He said he was a senior in college, and after hearing about the attacks, it was a very dark day. 

“We knew that we were now at war,” Jackson said. “I knew at that time that I was willing to go into the military and stay there until (the) job was done.”

Once the flag was raised, attendees were invited to join the ROTC Steel Battalion in placing nearly 3,000 flags into the ground surrounding the flagpole. 

Jackson said the meaning behind the ceremony is to never forget the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. 

“It’s also a remembrance of all the lives that were lost in support of the United States of America after the fact, throughout the 20 years of war — global war and terror in Afghanistan,” Jackson said. 

He said this remembrance is especially important to him because he was a platoon leader, company commander and operations officer multiple times in combat and has lost fellow soldiers in support of the Constitution of the United States. 

Jackson also said he wants to make sure the cadets remember the past so they can be better leaders in the future. 

Gabriella Pontoriero, ‘25, attended the event and said she thinks it’s an important day for people to come together and pay their respects.

Alex Lien, ‘28, another attendee, said he wanted to attend the ceremony because his family comes from a military background and 9/11 is an important event in the country’s history that deserves more recognition than it gets now.

“This kind of stuff matters to me,” Lien said. 

There were about 20 students in attendance — apart from ROTC Steel Battalion and Student Senate XXXVII members.

Lien said the only reason he knew about it was through the university’s 5×10 program. 

Pontoriero said she thinks the ceremony could’ve been publicized more to students since it’s so meaningful. 

“I think it’s nice that people are able to come together and do that, and so I’m sure if more people knew about it, there’d be more people here this morning,” Pontoriero said.

Alina Basilis, ‘26, is a member of the ROTC Steel Battalion, and she said continuing to honor the victims throughout the rest of the day is important. 

“People could just stop by (the flagpole) and take a moment of silence to remember those who died,” Basilis said.

Jackson said if students see a cadet in uniform, they should thank them for what they’ve done, what they’re doing now, and what they’re going to do in the future. He also said the campus community should acknowledge LUPD and Lehigh’s administration for their support in the commemoration. 

“Just continue to support everything that we do for now to eternity because we again — we can never forget,” Jackson said.

He said the best way individuals can honor the lives lost on Sept. 11 and in the following years is to continue to understand and reflect on what occurred so it won’t ever happen again.