Of the many events marking the Sept. 11 anniversary over the last five years, some were somber, some were introspective and some echoed with the patriotic pride that followed the attacks.
For the past four years, Harford County residents have gathered where Route 152 passes over Interstate 95 outside Joppa to wave flags to passing motorists, who blare their horns in support of the red, white and blue line on the overpass.
“It?s fantastic to hear,” said Joppa resident Sherrie Helminiak. “Driving home from a long day of work, I think it helps make [commuters] a part of remembering it.”
Organized by state Del. Pat McDonough, R-Baltimore and Harford counties, the mass tribute has drawn hundreds of residents since it began, McDonough said.
Last year, a motorist moved by the tribute stopped to thank them, McDonough said. The driver?s brother had been a pilot aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.
“That symbolizes why we do it,” McDonough said. “You never know who?s going to get your message.”
At C. Milton Wright High School, a handful of students paid tribute by raising an American flag sent home by a former teacher serving in Afghanistan.
Platoon Sgt. Brian Norman had been a social studies teacher at the school before being deployed to Afghanistan last spring, said schools spokesman Don Morrison.
The flag had flown over several U.S. bases there during the post-Sept. 11 war to topple the Taliban, Morrison said, and Norman had requested it be flown as a tribute to the thousands who died in the terrorist attacks. Organized by St. Joan of Arc School in Aberdeen along with city leaders, Aberdeen took part in one of 120 Freedom Walks to commemorate the anniversary.
As part of the Freedom Walk, St. Joan of Arc students had the opportunity to hear a first-hand account of what happened in New York City five years ago.
“When I saw those buildings on fire, time stood still. It was surreal,” said retired New York firefighter, Capt. Arthur DePew.
DePew said he was in Queens when the World Trade Center towers were struck, and though his battalion was not immediately activated, he wanted to rush to the scene. He finally made it to the scene at 4 a.m. on Sept. 12, to see the ruins of the twin towers were several stories tall.
DePew also said he was up for a promotion shortly before Sept. 11, but that promotion did not go through ? likely saving him from being there when the towers collapsed. “There would be a good chance that I would not be standing here before you,” he said, of what might have been if he had been promoted. “I lost four good friends that day,” DePew said. More than 300 New York firefighters died when the twin towers fell, he said.
“What can we do about it?” DePew asked those gathered at Aberdeen?s Festival Park Monday. “We can remember and never forget.”
