San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
PARADE RECALLS NATIONAL UNITY
Procession honored first responders, victims of 9/11
Like most Americans who were alive on Sept. 11, 2001, Caleb Dominguez remembers the terrorist attacks that ended with hijacked airliners crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Penn.
He said he remembers the next day even more.
“On Sept. 12, Americans came together as one nation,” he said. “It didn’t matter what your race was, or gender, or religion, or political party. We were just Americans, under the same flag.”
On Saturday, the 19th anniversary of that day, the 33-year-old medical-transport worker organized a vehicular parade through parts of his hometown, Chula Vista. About 20 cars and trucks participated, driving behind a rented mobile-billboard truck that projected 9/11 images and “Never Forget” slogans on its side panels instead of ads.
Most of the paraders had American flags on display, attached to poles anchored in the backs of pickups, or poked through open sunroofs, or held out rolled-down windows.
The line of vehicles drew occasional honks and waves from other motorists and pedestrians. Some people stopped on sidewalks to film the procession on their cellphones.
Susan Moreno, a gasstation manager who lives in Chula Vista, said she joined the parade because “it’s a way to bring people together and show support for America.” She, too, remembers Sept. 12 as a time of shared hope and resolve in the nation, a far cry from today’s political and cultural divides.
“It didn’t matter then if you were a Republican or a Democrat,” she said.
Moreno attended Saturday’s event with her spouse of nine years, Janine Watson, and they know about getting along. One is a Republican, the other a Democrat. One is an environmentalist; the other works for an oil company.
“We have our disagreements,” said Watson, “but I respect her point of view, and she respects mine. We’ve even changed each other’s mind a time or two.”
Their gray Ford pickup was decorated with five American flags — a reminder, they said, of how prevalent flag-waving was in the U.S. in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Manufacturers tripled production to meet the demand.
“We need to remember what it was like back then,” Watson said.
Al Sherwood, a retired Navy veteran and former corrections officer, came to the parade from his home in National City wearing a flag-themed shirt. In the bed of his 1964 Ford Ranchero, he had an American flag attached to a pole, which was stuck in a red concrete-filled plastic bin kept in place by four pieces of blue rope.
“It took me a long time to get it right,” he said.
He was there to pay his respects to the firefighters and police officers who died on 9/11 trying to help people escape from the burning World Trade Center. “They went running into the fire when everyone else was running away from it,” he said.
Although Dominguez said he wanted the event to be non-partisan, a few people waved banners or wore hats supporting the reelection of President Donald Trump.
john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com