Albany observes 15th anniversary of 9/11

ALBANY — Amid a field of 870 American flags and a large one flying from the boom ladder of a fire truck, a group of people from the Albany area met for the 14th time to commemorate America’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As dusk began to settle on the eve of the 15th anniversary of 9/11, a musical prelude by the Deerfield-Windsor School winds ensemble was followed by the haunting sound of bagpiper Dan Gillan, a retired U.S. Marine colonel, and the playing of the national anthem by violinist Claire Fox Hillard, director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Ted Wright, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, spoke early in the program about the significance of the day, saying that “9/11 is our generation’s Pearl Harbor. We assemble here … to remember those citizens who were killed and injured in those attacks and to celebrate the heroic response to those attacks.” The program included the names of every Georgian who died in military service since 9/11.

Chris Cohilas, chairman of the Dougherty County Commission, said, “It’s important for every community to recognize the contributions of our armed services, our first responders — the EMS, police, law enforcement, sheriff’s department — all those public servants.”

Dougherty County Sheriff Kevin Sproul noted during the program that 81 law enforcement officers have lost their lives this year.

Cohilas noted that many people take for granted “things as simple as our freedom, stability in our country, stability in our community, and safety when we lay our heads down at night” when “there are very real and evil dangers in this world and people and the entities that pursue that evil want to strike at the things we often take for granted.”

“The reality is, but for the bravery and courage of the folks you see before you and the many that have passed, giving their lives for our country and our freedom, we wouldn’t have those liberties and those privileges,” he said, noting their sacrifices created the “blanket of protection we sleep beneath every night”

One who served in the U.S. Army for 28 years providing that protection was the featured speaker — retired Lt. Col. Brian Lassetter, who is now senior instructor of the Junior ROTC program at Worth County High School.

“Before I start,” Lassetter said, “let me say this to the men and women that laid the foundation for the armed forces that … I joined in 1986. I want to say thank you, because obviously our successes on the battlefield today are because of the hard work that you men and women put forth.

“When I drove up tonight, I can’t help but say how much of an honor it truly is to be able to stand and pay tribute to the colors of our nation.”

Lassetter said he learned a great deal during his multiple combat deployments to the Middle East and Afghanistan, along with deployments to Bosnia — on a peacekeeping mission when the 9/11 attacks occurred — and Central America.

Among those lessons, he said, “Number one, death here by our local population is not the worst thing that can happen. Trust me when I say the loss of our freedom — the loss of our way of life — is far more critical to our nation.”

Asked how the nation can protect itself from terrorism, Lassetter said, “The first thing you have to realize — and that you have to say — is that we truly have an enemy. Radical Islamic terrorism is capable of projecting fear and harm across the world. We have to be able to realize that and say it. Sun Tzu got it right when he said, ‘Those that know themselves and know the enemy, need not fear of the results of a hundred battles. However, those that know themselves but not the enemy, for every victory will surely experience defeat.’”

Many don’t have a clear understanding of what motivates terrorists.

“When most of our population thinks of terrorism today, they think of individuals, such as Osama bin Laden, and a person that dislikes the United States,” Lassetter said. “However, I will tell you it’s an ideology. I will tell you that as recently as 1964, the narrative and benchmarks and milestones that have been written truly embrace the fact that they believe the United States is trying to abolish Islam.

“We know that’s not true, but that is exactly how our enemy sees us. And, unfortunately, I will tell you that when it comes to being successful at defeating that kind of terrorism, we must maintain the capacity to project lethal and non-lethal affects around the globe, whenever and wherever our enemy presents itself. We must stand ready, vigilant, and have the bold tenacious type of attack when presented by an enemy.”

After recounting events from his tour in Iraq in 2005-06, Lassetter said, “Our nation is capable of greatness, but we must remember the blood, sweat and tears that’s been shed by the men and women before us. We must remember the sacrifices of their families in order to provide the very blanket of freedom I heard about tonight and the protection of the way of life we currently have.

“And I assure you this, I will never forget that tonight I can sleep because there’s men and women around the world that aren’t. And I pray that you do the same.”

Earlier in the program, Marvin Mixon, program chairman for American Legion Post 30, made a special presentation to Chris Aldrich, son of the late David Scott Aldrich, who had been instrumental in facilitating the Field of Flags displays. Mixon, who coordinates and organizes the event each year, said that when the Southwest Georgia Exchange Club (it was taken over by Post 30 about eight years ago) first conducted the program in 2012, it took four volunteers a day and a half to install 1,000 flags. Aldrich, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, found ways to cut down on that time.

“He was a great leader. He was a good thinker,” Mixon said. “This past Saturday, we got the flags up in one and a half hours.

“We lost him (Aldrich) just a few weeks ago. If you can dedicate this program to any one person, he’s the one I’d dedicate it to this evening. He was the type leader I would have followed anywhere.”

The program ended with Army veteran John Gray playing “Taps” and Gillan concluding with “Amazing Grace.”