TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- After the tragic moments of 9/11, America came closer together as a nation. Every year after, millions of Americans unite once more to remember all the lives lost during this misfortune and it will be no different. We will "never forget."
"Remembering 9/11 and the loss we suffered that day affects all of us," said Col. Derek C. France, 325th Fighter Wing commander. "Even though this was 14 years ago, a tragedy of this magnitude is felt by each and every American. For the Americans who perished, the first responders who died while saving others, and the families who lost their loved ones, we must never forget."
At 8:46 a.m., when the first Boeing 767 hit the North Tower, Team Tyndall will be doing a one-and-a-half mile formation run, commemorating the lives lost on that day. The formation run will be led by Tyndall law enforcement and emergency response members.
"This is a day of remembrance," said Richard Byers, 325th Force Support Squadron Base Fitness Center sports director. "This run helps us embody the idea to never forget what happened that day. It is a way that brings the base closer as a team."
Throughout the base different units will be having their own ceremonies and traditions.
To honor those who lost their lives, the 601st Air and Space Operations Center will be having a memorial ceremony at the 601st AOC 9/11 Memorial, which was erected in 2007.
The memorial features twisted steel from the floors of the World Trade Center's Tower Two, scorched limestone from the damaged face of the Pentagon and chiseled segments of flagstone from a Pennsylvania quarry.
According to a short passage from the 601st AOC, 'America's AOC' remains vigilant in the war on terror insuring the safety of America's skies 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
Though this event is in the past, it still lives in people's heart:
"My son, firefighter Leon Smith Jr., who was the sunshine of my life; He gave his life so that others could live. I love you, I miss you and we'll meet again soon." - Irene Smith, whose son was a member of the Fire Department of New York Ladder Co. 118, speaking at a memorial service in New York.
"Remember the hours after Sept. 11 when we came together as one...It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us." - Then-Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, in 2004.
"Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11." -- President Barack Obama in a 2011 radio address.