CLAREMORE — High school students at Claremore and Verdigris took time Tuesday to remember the events and victims on the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001
Claremore High School Junior ROTC students honored the victims and survivors of 9/11 Tuesday on the 11th anniversary of the attacks on American soil.
The CHS band, choir and ROTC students performed for the honored attendees and guests.
The band performed the national anthem as the color guard presented the colors.
Choir students sang “America the Beautiful.”
Guest speaker Brock Rowlett spoke about his experience as he was in the south tower during the attacks in New York City.
“It was a beautiful morning pretty much like today,” Rowlett said.
As he looked out the windows of his building he noticed that paper was floating through the air in flames and Rowlett said that it was at that moment he knew he needed to get out of the building.
Rowlett detailed his evacuation of the tower and how he was in the stairway when the building was struck.
“Everything was moving in slow motion after the plane hit. We did not know it was a plane but we knew something was very wrong,” Rowlett said.
It was not until he left the stairway and was guided by police and emergency responders that Rowlett began to grasp the intensity of the situation.
After leaving the building he stepped outside to see the fullness of the tragedy, he explained.
“That is where you see all the things you don’t want to see,” Rowlett said. “That is what saved my life.”
Rowlett left the area due to the intensity of what he was seeing and within minutes the buildings had collapsed.
Rowlett emphasized to the students that 9/11 is a day that should always be remembered.
He thanked police, fire and emergency medical services for being there and for saving lives.
“When I was a scared 23-year-old kid, they were the ones that were running back in to save people like me,” Rowlett said.
The events of that day are not forgotten as the high school students conducted the ceremony many were visibly moved.
JNROTC student Tristen Greenfield played “taps” for the event.
“It makes me feel so proud when I play. I am honored to play for the people that have served and serve our country,” Greenfield said.
“Today is a reminder of all the American citizens that give so much to our great country,” said Lt. Commander Murry Estabrook.
Verdigris student Noah Collins summarized the terrible events of that day 11 years ago when our lives as Americans were changed. He challenged student to also remember what has not changed.
“Our character as a nation has not changed. Our faith in God and each other. That has not changed,” said Collins. “Our belief in America, born of a timeless ideal that men and women should govern themselves; that all people are created equal and deserve the same freedom to determine their own destiny. That belief through tests and trial has only strengthened.”
The event was coordinated by Verdigris High School History Teacher Rhonda Willis.
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