Vietnam veteran Charlie Scott had a few moments to read a letter
from Carol Heiderich, the sister of United 93 Capt. Jason Dahl who
died in the Sept. 11 attacks, during Hollister’s ceremony
commemorating the 10th anniversary.
”
He was a brother, son, uncle, cousin and, most importantly, a
father,
”
Scott read.
Vietnam veteran Charlie Scott had a few moments to read a letter from Carol Heiderich, the sister of United 93 Capt. Jason Dahl who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, during Hollister’s ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary.
“He was a brother, son, uncle, cousin and, most importantly, a father,” Scott read from the letter, moving on to recite her thoughts that the great sadness of the event also incited hope.
“We encourage everyone to find a reason to celebrate and embrace life,” the letter read.
As with many moments during Sunday’s late-morning event at the Veterans Memorial Building, the letter’s reading was followed with enthusiastic applause from a crowd in the hundreds that covered much of the courtyard. Scott was master of ceremonies with such speakers as a police captain, the fire chief, a Red Cross volunteer who responded after the attacks, and an organizer who released 46 doves as part of the ceremony.
Before getting to speakers, Boy Scouts led the crowd in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the Rev. Ardyss Golden led a nondenominational prayer and artist Shannon Grissom sang the National Anthem. There also was a rendition of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes from Michel d’Avenas.
“Today, we will not talk about politics or religion, our activities, whether they were right or wrong since that day,” Scott said at the outset. “We simply are gathering to remember those we lost that day.”
Hollister police Capt. David Westrick represented the “first responders” segment of the event. He started off by noting that 411 responders died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I’m sure they were concerned about their safety,” Westrick said, “but their sense of duty and their oath to protect life was their priority that day.”
Hollister Fire Chief Fred Cheshire called Sept. 11 the “most defining moment of our generation.”
“This is a day for remembrance,” he said, “a day to remember all of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, not only the first responders, but the soldiers that have died to protect our freedom.”
During some down time at the event – organizers had to work with a timed release of the doves to coincide with similar releases elsewhere involving more than 4,700 of the birds – Scott took some time to recognize the soldiers who have taken part, or will, in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. He asked them to stand for applause, and later did the same with the Blue Star Moms whose group is comprised of soldiers’ mothers.
Before releasing the doves, which waited about 30 seconds with the cages open before taking flight, their owner and event organizer Shannon German spoke and said generations to come will never live the same way.
“With that said, we were not robbed of our determination to continue to live as free men and women, to continue to strive toward building an America that Abraham Lincoln called the last best hope on earth.”
