One year ago tears fell freely at the unveiling of the community’s 9-11 memorial bench on the city greenbelt. On Thursday, the sting of grief gave way to the smiles of a lighter mood, as Hermosans returned to the same spot to mark the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks.
“What a difference 12 months can make,” Hermosa Beach Police Chaplain Gila Katz told a gathering of about 70 people, including uniformed police and firefighters and City Council members, who sat in white folding chairs or stood in small clusters on a sunny, breezy afternoon.
Addresses by Katz and others were capped by the unveiling of a new addition to the Hermosa memorial, a foot-long, shield-shaped chunk of the World Trade Center, which stands suspended between two four-foot-tall obelisks representing the Twin Towers.
The new addition stands before the existing monument unveiled last year: a bench festooned with 2,998 buttons for each victim of the attacks, along with airline flight attendant wings and badge pins from the New York police and fire departments.
Among those in attendance were Hermosa Beach Police Lt. Tom Thompson, who secured the piece of the World Trade Center from the New York and New Jersey port authorities, and members of the Hermosa Beach Kiwanis, who helped establish the 9-11 monuments through the Builder’s Club that they sponsor at Hermosa Valley School. Also in attendance was local builder Dave Garrett, who constructed a minimalist wooden canopy that overarches the memorial bench.
The keynote speaker, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Paco Hamm, recalled the past and looked to the future.
“It’s been a decade since Sept. 11. The year, the month and day, together, has become both a symbol of tragedy and resiliency for our nation,” he said.
Hamm told of his experiences on the day of the attacks, when he aided in President Bush’s televised address to the nation from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Hamm, then a reservist after 11 years of active duty, had spent several weeks serving as a fill-in public affairs officer.
“Then, on Sept. 11, 2001, I got a call from my wife Jennifer, who asked me to turn on the TV. I was stunned at what I was witnessing live on the ‘Today Show,’” he said.
“Immediately I got to the office – the base went to full alert – and was following the news and fielding local media calls,” he said.
Hamm hurried to the front gate of the base where reporters gathered for information.
“I had a reporter ask me, ‘Can the base accommodate Air Force One?’” Hamm said.
As he was wrapping his mind around the implications of the question, Hamm was called to the general’s office and rushed past men in dark suits, with earpieces, speaking into tiny communications devices.
“I get to the general’s main office only to find him standing next to the president of the United States. My boss introduces me and I shake the president’s hand and get my marching orders. The president will address the American people and we will need to prepare the conference room for a TV news conference,”Hamm said.
“I run back down the stairs to prepare and just like that, the president enters the room and addresses the nation. I still remember looking around the room and seeing how shocked everyone was about what was happening. I could see all the emotions swirling in everyone’s eyes. We knew this was a pivotal moment for the president to address the country,”Hammsaid.
A year later Hamm returned to fulltime active duty.
“I have had the opportunity to serve in Iraq twice, in 2004 and 2009, and was able to witness the many strides in democracy made by the Iraqi people. The deployments have given my family opportunities to experience the long separations and how to work through those challenges together as a family,” he said.
“It’s important that we pause and reflect on the ultimate cost of war, the lives of our brave service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Hamm said.
“Since the start of U.S.military operation in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have lost 6,168 service members in the line of duty. And 45,368 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action,” he said.
Hamm praised the courage and support of military families in the face of loss and the separation of deployments.
“While we must always remember the tragic events that unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001, we must also as a nation continue to come together and celebrate, and honor, the many lives that were lost, by honoring the courage and inspiration that they displayed,” Hamm said.
“And although it is sometimes not easy, we must continue to live the best we can, to celebrate life by loving our families, friends and neighbors. To celebrate life by doing out best at our jobs, and through service to others, in our communities, any way we can,” he said.
“For all the victims of 9-11 and the families left behind, for the patriots who paid the ultimate price and their families. For the wounded warriors and their families, and for the many men and women who continue to answer the call for their country – whether teachers, medical personnel, first responders, firefighters or police officers, or military personnel – in the name of service, duty, honor, they would want you to do nothing less,” Hamm said.
“This memorial park will serve as a beautiful place where we all can come to reflect on what happened on that day, and reflect on the courage of those who died, and the many sacrifices that many Americans have made since 9-11 to protect our freedoms that we all enjoy,”Hammsaid.
Hermosa Beach Fire Chief David Lantzer told the gathering that a sticker on a city fire engine reads “Sept. 11, 2001 – we must never forget.”
He pointed to a line of unformed city firefighters to the rear of the assemblage.
“Look at that back row,” he said. “These men in blue would have done the same thing New York’s finest did,” running into the World Trade Center to make rescues while the towers’ occupants were running past them to get out.
HBPD chaplains removed a white covering to unveil the new addition to the monument.
The ceremony was opened when the HBPD color guard marched the U.S. and California flags to the speakers’ podium, and it was closed when the guard retired the colors.
