Saturday, September 6, 2008

9/11 Day of Remembrance pays tribute to victims

Jackie Schlotfeldt News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

Belen A memorial flag ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be held at the 9/11 Memorial Park at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.

The theme for this year's ceremony is A Day of Remembrance, and members from veterans' organizations as well as fire and police from Belen, Los Lunas and the county will be present at the memorial.

Mayor Ronnie Torres will present a proclamation signifying that the memorial park will remain a historical site in the City of Belen.

The park serves as a reminder for future generations to remember one of the darkest days in the history of the United States on which lives were lost and heroes that died while trying to save others.

The creation of the 9/11 Memorial Park began seven years ago with a prayer vigil a month following the attacks on New York and the Pentagon and the downing of Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field. It has since grown into a beautiful memorial that honors not just the lives lost that day, but also the brave soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq in the war on terrorism that is now in its fifth year.

Gloria Sanchez, and several others including her husband, Sonny, Ken Gibson and Julie Baca, have worked to make the memorial park a tribute to the fallen.

Little by little, additions were made, including an eight-foot replica of the Twin Towers, an eight-foot wingspan steel sculptured eagle, a piece of steel beam from the World Trade Center and a shovel used by Maryland Task Force 1, the first organized rescue recovery group that entered the Pentagon after the attack. The local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2387 also donated a flag to the park.

The most recent addition was the construction of the freedom wall that contains the names of all soldiers from New Mexico or with ties to New Mexico who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Appropriations from the legislature have also helped to continue the progress on the park, and currently a piece of limestone from the Pentagon is being worked on to contain a scene from the Pentagon along with the victims' names from the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93 on the stone.

Sanchez said they hope to have it completed by next year's memorial ceremony.

"We do what we can when we can," Sanchez said.

The 9/11 Memorial Park is located on Church and Main Street in Belen.

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