Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Students participate in Patriots Day ceremony
Reeceville Elementary School students, faculty, family members and first responders who gathered at the Patriots Day ceremony Tuesday were urged to uphold a sense of pride in America.
The Coatesville Area School District officials said the emotional Patriots Day ceremony is a time for the school community to come together and remember those whose lives were affected in so many ways throughout the country because of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
“Today, we gather to pay tribute to the many innocent people who died 17 years ago today during the worst attack on American soil,” state Rep. Becky Corbin said on Tuesday during the ceremony. “While none of the students here today were alive on this awful day, I know the staff can remember in vivid detail those events.”
Corbin, R-155, of East Brandywine, spoke of the heroism and courage displayed on that day in 2001 and how it brought Americans closer together, with patriotism reaching new heights.
“It was a day of infamy, but also a day of heroism and courage. A day of national unity in the face of terror, a day that forced us to re-examine our priorities and renew who we are as a nation,” Corbin said. “While what happened was horrific, September 11th brought us, as Americans, closer together.”
She challenged those in attendance to uphold that same sense of pride and also to remember the departed heroes and innocent victims of that day.
The fifth-grade chorus led the crowd in singing the National Anthem, as the Scout Troop lowered the flag to half-staff. East
Brandywine Fire Company firefighters attended the ceremony this year. Students and other participants observed a moment of silence in remembrance of those who were affected by the events of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger. blogspot.com.