DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- On this day, 18 years ago, members of Team Dobbins were any number of places. Some were taking geometry quizzes as high schoolers. Some were serving in the military. Some were still toddlers. Regardless of the different locations or stages of life, all of these lives were altered by the events on that fateful day.
Dobbins hosted a 9/11 Memorial Walk at the base track this morning to honor those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We’re all here to remember and honor those we lost during the Sept. 11 attacks 18 years ago,” said Brig. Gen. Richard Kemble, 94th Airlift Wing commander, during the opening remarks for the event. “As you make your way around the track, I encourage each of you to share your memories of the event and to reflect on the brave men and women we lost as a result of the attack.”
At the registration table, participants picked up information cards containing mini biographies on those who died during the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Some of these participants ran around the track, while others walked and shared their memories of hearing the news of the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Some shared these stories in a book which lay open on the registration table with a sign next to it reading “On 9/11 I was…”
One entry read, “I was in sixth grade in school in Columbia, South Carolina. They stopped everything and locked the doors. It is one of the reasons I joined.”
There were also two separate moments of silence – one at 8:46 a.m. and another at 9:03 a.m. – marking the times in which the planes struck the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Airmen from the 94th lined up with Dobbins Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and civilians and began the one mile memorial walk around the base track.
“Thank you so much for coming out and supporting,” said Kemble in his closing remarks. “It is truly an honor to serve with each and every one of you. I am thoroughly impressed by our community around this installation. We are all part of Team Dobbins.”