March ARB pauses to remember 9/11

  • Published
  • By Megan Just
  • 452nd AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  The 9/11 Remembrance Service has become a tradition at March ARB, but with the three chaplains who normally coordinate the event all deployed, the service almost didn't happen this year. 

Lt. Col. Steve O'Brien, the Fourth Air Force Chaplain, came to the rescue, organizing the remembrance service in less than five days. He also hosted the service that began at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sep. 11. 

Frank Pearson and Tom Russo, along with about 75 other attendees, were grateful that he did. 

"The day we start separating ourselves from the tragedies, is the day we'll forget what it's all about," Pearson said. 

"It's the same reason we recognize Pearl Harbor Day each year," Russo said. 

"We can't forget," Pearson said. 

"No, we can't forget," Russo echoed. 

The 452nd AMW chaplains began organizing the remembrance service in 2002, on the first anniversary of 9/11. 

Even though seven years have passed now since the first remembrance service, and March ARB is geographically far from the locations of the tragedies, Pearson and Russo agree that it is important to continue the services indefinitely. 

"We're not any farther away from 9/11 than we were on September 12, 2001," Pearson said. 

Chaplain O'Brien opened the service with a recording of the National Anthem. 

"This is a pause to remember those who lost their lives in the tragedies," Chaplain O'Brien said. 

He also asked the crowd to remember the firefighters and police officers who were the first to respond that day, the families who lost loved ones, and the many service members who are deployed overseas. 

Anita Hernandez traveled from Corona, Calif., to perform a medley of patriotic songs. This was the third year she's performed at the March 9/11 Remembrance Service. 

"It is a privilege and an honor," Hernandez said about singing to the crowd of primarily military service members. "I feel indebted to what they do." 

Following the vocal solo, Tom Hayes of the March ARB Fire Department, rang the fire department's bell in three groups of three. This traditional bell service is observed when a firefighter dies in the line of duty. The bells signify a calling home to the station for the newly fallen firefighter, along with any firefighter who has ever died in service. 

The Blue Eagles Total Force Honor Guard fired a 21-gun salute, and Staff Sgt. Mario Gomez played taps on his bugle.