NAFEC OFFICIALS vow to ‘Never forget’
SEELEY — Naval Air Facility El Centro (NAFEC) officials were joined by colleagues and local first responders on Monday to memorialize the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
As part of the somber ceremony, Capt. Brent Alfonzo, commanding officer of NAFEC, reminded those present that it was their duty as Americans to remember the 2,966 lives lost on that fateful day.
Not to be forgotten, Alfonzo also said, are the known and unknown enemies who still desire to cause harm to America and its allies, as well as the vulnerabilities that still remain to this day.
“We place ourselves at risk because we adhere to our founding father’s ideals of freedom and liberty,” Alfonzo said. “We choose to be susceptible to some foes and some threats because we simply refuse to live in a police state. To do so would cede victory to our enemy without a fight.”
Alfonzo also acknowledged that in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks he was comforted by widespread displays of teamwork and patriotism, much like the unity that enveloped the nation following the attacks on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II.
That widespread harmony also appears to have recently resurfaced in response to the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
“These: unity, spirit and purpose, represent the very best elements of our greatest strength – our people,” Alfonzo said. “Seeing that helps me believe that no matter our differences, our shared ideals bond us all, and that there is a never-ending supply of good in this world.”
As part of the 9/11 ceremony, the names of the 31 Navy personnel who died in the attacks were read aloud, and followed by the tolling of a bell.
Naval staff were also joined by representatives from the NAFEC Fire Department, El Centro and Imperial police departments, county Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Border Patrol.
A total of 343 firefighters, nine emergency medical personnel and 71 law enforcement officers were killed on 9/11, said NAFEC Command Master Chief Jeremy Embree.
During his remarks, Embree also reminded those gathered that more than 6,000 people sustained injuries as a result of the attacks, and that citizens from 90 countries lost their lives that day.
Included among those killed were 67 citizens of the United Kingdom, which Embree paid homage to out of respect for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers corpsmen from the British Army’s 7th Aviation Support Battalion that were in attendance on Monday.
Compounding that loss of life is the emotional pain that many still carry with them to this day, Embree said.
“For them, the pain continues as they struggle through life without a potential breadwinner, a companion, a role model or a hero,” he said, before asking all to join him in a moment of silence.
The Sept. 11 attacks proved to be a defining moment for the career of Cmdr. Adam Schlismann, NAFEC executive officer.
As a 25-year-old lieutenant junior grade attached to a Navy fleet air reconnaissance squadron in 2001, Schlismann was quickly deployed to the Middle East to prepare for retaliatory strikes within Afghanistan.
Since then, the armed forces have undergone an upswing in its operations tempo, which in turn has had a profound impact on its service members, Schlismann said, noting how that intensified operations tempo likely led to the suicide of a close friend and service member.
“It’s very appropriate that we come together on ceremonies like this to keep the Sept. 11 attacks from becoming just another event in the textbooks that we read about from long ago,” he said.
Petty Officer First Class Carl Ross said that he had watched the 9/11 attacks unfold on TV while he was a high school senior in his native Tulsa, Okla.
Likewise, Oxnard native and Hospital Corpsman First Class Maurice Fernandez also said he remembered being awakened by family to watch what was unfolding on TV that fateful day.
The terrorist attacks would prompt both thenhigh school students to enlist in the armed forces and eventually serve in the theater of combat overseas as part of the global war on terror.
“We don’t look at it in a sense that we are superheroes or anything like that,” Ross said. “We’re just normal citizens who just happen to have Navy on our uniform.”
“May we always remember those who perished on that fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001,” Fernandez said. “May we always remember those who gave some, and those who gave all.”