September 11th Remembrance: Across the Lake, Across the Years
As the bells toll once again on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we pause to remember those lost, those who served, and those whose lives were forever changed.
The Morning Remembered
Twenty-five years ago today, our nation experienced one of the darkest, most unprecedented days in our history.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two struck the World Trade Center in Manhattan, one struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in a field in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, and countless others were injured or forever changed by the events of that day.
Here in Fluvanna and throughout this region, the attacks felt both distant and yet deeply personal. For a number of uncertain hours that day, the distance seemed to disappear altogether.
The nation stood still.
A Community Gathered in Sorrow
As news of the unfolding tragedy spread and began to sink in, people throughout Fluvanna gathered at the church to reflect, pray, and try to make sense of what they were witnessing. Many were not members of the church. They came from different social circles, held different religious beliefs, and belonged to different political parties. Yet despite our differences, the community came together almost instinctively, filling the church to share in our collective shock and grief.
In the midst of that gathering, the church's bells became the voice of our community. They tolled for those who had been lost, for a nation in mourning, and for a people searching for hope and healing.
Within earshot of those bells, just across the lake from Fluvanna, one family received news that transformed a national tragedy into a local one.
Across the Lake and Across the Years
Amy King, a graduate of Southwestern Central School District and Jamestown Community College, was a United Airlines flight attendant aboard Flight 175, the second aircraft to strike the World Trade Center. She was only twenty-nine years old.
Today, a memorial to Amy stands in the Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron. This memorial serves as a reminder that even in a small community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, the events of September 11th affected real people, real families, and real neighbors.
Yet Amy's story did not end on September 11th.
Amid the depravity and tragedy of that day, there were also acts of heroism, virtue, and goodness that continue to bear fruit a quarter century later. Here in Chautauqua County, Amy's memory lives on through the "All for Amy" Fund, which provides scholarships for local students, and the "All for Amy Memorial Fund," which supports charitable causes throughout the community. Her legacy is also celebrated through the annual "All for Amy" Golf Tournament, and the the Amy King Memorial 5K Run/Walk. What began as remembrance became a lasting commitment to helping others and strengthening the community she loved.
Tolling the Bells: the Voice of Memory
For twenty-five years, the bells of the Fluvanna Church have called our community to pause and remember. They rang on that terrible day in 2001 as neighbors gathered in shock and sorrow. They have rung every September 11 since, carrying forward a simple promise: that we will not forget.
This morning, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the attacks, the bells will once again mark the moments that changed our nation:
8:46 a.m. - Flight 11 strikes the North Tower
9:03 a.m. - Flight 175 strikes the South Tower
9:37 a.m. - Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon
9:59 a.m. - The South Tower collapses
10:03 a.m. - Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania
10:28 a.m. - The North Tower collapses
The bells ring in memory of Amy King, the victims of the attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, the first responders who rushed toward danger, those whose lives were changed forever by the events of that day, and the military service members who later gave their lives in the years that followed.
The Work of Remembrance
For centuries, the tolling of bells has invited communities to pause, whether in celebration, mourning, thanksgiving, or prayer.
Today, those familiar notes ask something simple of us: to remember.
Remember the lives that were taken.
Remember the courage that was shown.
Remember the firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel, volunteers, and ordinary citizens who responded when they were needed most.
Remember the families whose lives were forever changed.
Remember those who have since lost their lives to 9/11-related illnesses and those who continue to carry the physical and emotional wounds of that day.
Remember, too, the service members who carried the burden of the years that followed.
Twenty-five years later, memory remains one of the ways we honor them.
At noon, the bells will ring once more as they play The Star-Spangled Banner, looking not only backward as a September 11th remembrance, but forward in hope.
As the sound of the bells carries across Fluvanna this morning, and perhaps even reaches Celoron, where Amy's memorial stands near the shore of Chautauqua Lake, may their ringing remind us of those we lost, those who served, and those whose lives were forever changed.
May we never forget.
Learn More & Support
Those wishing to learn more about September 11th and support the preservation of its history and memory may visit:
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Honoring the victims of the attacks and preserving their stories for future generations.
Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial
Supporting education, preservation, and remembrance at the site where passengers and crew courageously resisted the hijackers.
https://www.flight93friends.org
National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
Preserving the memory of those lost at the Pentagon and educating future generations about September 11th.
To support charitable efforts established in memory of Amy King:
"All for Amy" Fund (Chautauqua Region Community Foundation)
Scholarship support for local students from the communities Amy called home.
https://crcfonline.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1085
"All for Amy" Golf Tournament
An annual fundraising tradition established in Amy's memory.
Amy King Memorial Turkey Trot 5K
An annual race celebrating Amy's love of running while supporting local scholarships.
https://www.jamestownymca.org/special-events/amy-king-memorial-5k-run-walk/
The Fluvanna Community Historical Society is a registered 501(c)(3) organization, provisionally chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, and dedicated to connecting our community with our past, with each other and with a brighter future.
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