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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - On Sunday, September 11, 2016, the Pike County American Legion Post 197 hosted the Pike County Patriot's Day Observance Program on the Pike County Courthouse Square in Zebulon, Georgia. This Patriot Day Observance Program honored the 15th anniversary of those who perished that fateful morning of September 11, 2001.
There was a multi-organizational Color Guard posting of the Colors consisted of Lt. Chris Laggis, Deputy Schyler Coffer, and Sergeant Joe Fritz from the Pike County Sheriff’s Office representing Law Enforcement and the Armed Forces and Deputy Fire Chief for Emergency Management from the Pike County Fire Department, Jimmy Totten, representing Fire Fighters and First Responders; The “National Anthem,” “America, The Beautiful,” and “My Country Tis of Thee” were sung beautifully by Rebekah Hanson, Callista and Alayna Clark; Last Call Tribute to the FDNY and NYPD by the Pike County Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office; special 9-11 Prayer by Prayer Power of Georgia’s Chaplain Ben Maxedon, and guest speaker, Pike County Sheriff Jimmy Thomas.
Bryan Richardson, Commander of the Pike County American Legion Post 197, was the master of ceremonies for the program. Post 197 Chaplain Paul Harris provided the invocation for this remembrance. Over 110 people attended this event to honor those who lost their lives in a terrorist attack 15 years ago.
A 9-11 Memorial honored those in uniform who died in the line of duty on 9-11. Firefighters, police officers, and miliary were honored and stood in silence before a crowd that gathered in the shade under the trees as Commander Richardson told how 9-11 affected countries and cultures around the world. Yellow butterflies flitted around the crowd throughout the ceremony.
The 9-11 Memorial included those in uniform who died in the line of duty on 9-11. There are three chairs with mementos representing the 343 firefighters, the 60 police, and the 55 military. 2,977 victims were remembered as well.
The last call read as follows: "Dispatch to 343 and 60. (Pause) Dispatch to 343 and 60. (Pause) Dispatch to 343 and 60. (Pause) Attention all units, be advised that 343 of the Fire Department of New York City, and 60 of the New York City Police Department and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are not responding. 343 and 60 are no longer with us. They ended their watch on 11 September 2001 and are now 10-42. Thank you 343 and 60 for your bravery, courage, heroic efforts’ and many years of service. You will not be forgotten. Dispatch clear."
Chaplain Ben Maxedon of Prayer Power of Georgia spoke to the crowd about an act of evil that touched each one of us fifteen years ago that shook our country. But he also spoke of "an explosion of Americanism, Patriotism, and Spirituality that unified this nation" and how we began to recover as a nation. He led the crowd in a recitation of The Lord's Prayer as those on Flight 93 did before the flight crashed into the ground. He also prayed a prayer for our country of healing and restoration for those who lost loved ones, those who still bear scars from that attack, and for our country to experience revival and healing as we turn back to God.
Sheriff Jimmy Thomas was the guest speaker who told of a calling for those who protect others. "These are the people who are going to make a difference," he said. He asked the crowd what we could give back and how can we assist as a community and told how 9-11 touched Pike County. The first insurance fraud case after 9-11 happened here in Pike County, but he said that as quickly as the media came into Pike County, they were gone when one of our soldiers were killed. He said that 9-11 pulled us together as a country and urged those in attendance to reach out to those who were touched by this tragedy.
Commander Richardson closed with a quotation from a presidential campaign speech given by Abraham Lincoln on September 11, 1858 in Edwardsville, Illinois. He said that Lincoln's quote was as relevant then as it is today on National Patriot Day. “What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army. Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.”
