Fairfield students, firefighters honor lives lost on 9/11 with commemorative walk
FAIRFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) - On Sept. 11, 2001, members of the terrorist group al-Qaida hijacked four planes. Two of them crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the other into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Some 2,977 people lost their lives that day and more than 2,500 were people injured.
To honor and remember the fallen, the Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department and the Fairfield Center School worked together to hold a commemorative walk.
“It was something you never forget,” said Bet Howrigan, a teacher at the Fairfield Center School.
Twenty-two years ago, the nation changed forever, when thousands of people died or were injured as a result of terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“When it happened, the whole school kind of just stopped and we all watched for hours what was happening on the TV,” said Kelsey Malboeuf, the principal of the Fairfield Center School.
Howrigan has been teaching for years and says she knows that students also learn outside the classroom. That is why the Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department and the Fairfield Center School worked together to host a walk that honors the thousands who were injured or lost their lives that day.
“Today the respect that they showed was phenomenal and we need to start showcasing that more and more,” Howrigan said.
“It was very powerful and moving and inspiring,” Malboeuf said.
Malboeuf says the faculty works hard to educate their students about 9/11. Events like this keep the memory alive.
“It’s moments like these that kids are going to remember and that’s what we want. We want to make an impact on them and ensure that what took place on 9/1... is never forgotten,” Malboeuf said.
“The peace and quiet, the silence that you could just feel among the students walking behind us, them taking it all in recognizing the moment,” Fairfield Volunteer Firefighter James Consentino said.
“The most rewarding part would definitely be the fact of going and helping whoever it is in a small town, there’s a good chance that it’s somebody that you know,” said Capt. Damien Boomhower of the Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department.
The day ended near the flag pole as everyone said the Pledge of Allegiance.
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