New York City to Fort Benning Motorcycle Run

The New York City to Fort Benning Motorcycle Run will be traveling down Georgia Interstate 85 and 185 on Tuesday, September 15th.

This police-escorted Run will be taking an iron and steel memorial from The Twin Towers (911 Site) to be erected at the National Infantry Museum. The 1000-mile-plus Run will also be raising money for the Fire Family Transport Foundation.

Accompanying the entire Run will be several FDNY Firefighters and Engine 343. Engine 343 is a 1951 Mack Fire Truck and is engraved with the names of the 343 Firefighters that lost their lives in The World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Some of the FDNY Firefighters accompanying the Run responded to The World Trade Center tragedy and hope to see Georgia Fire and Rescue agency personnel supporting this important and historic Run.

Please go to the following Web site for additional information and details on the Run at http://ironandsteelnyctofortbenning.org.
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Ceremony to Commemorate Anniversary of 9/11 in Newnan

On September 11th at 9 a.m. a 9/11 tribute will be held at Veterans Memorial Plaza. The City of Newnan Police and Fire will hold the tribute in conjunction with Coweta County Sheriff and Fire, Coweta County EMT, the United States Military and the American Red Cross. All these agencies will be honoring the fallen and the victims of 9/11. The public is invited to the ceremony.

"We do this every year just to remember the people who lost their lives that day," said Newnan Police Chief Douglas L. "Buster" Meadows, whose brother was at the Pentagon when it was attacked. "We don't forget. We remember what happened because it changed the way we live our day-to-day lives."

The remembrance program will feature representatives from the branches of public service, and local attorney Mark Mitchell will be the featured speaker, said Gina Snider, City of Newnan public information officer.

Meadows said Mitchell assisted the Newnan-Coweta Public Safety Training Center Board in obtaining a non-profit status."He's been a big help to us," said Meadows. "He's a proponent of public safety. It will be fitting for him to be there."

The program will also include a flag ceremony, a gun salute, "Taps" and a moment of silence. A representative from each public safety agency will place a wreath at the park in honor of the victims of 9/11 and the soldiers who've been killed in action.

“Veterans are encouraged to attend the commemoration for their service and dedication to our country,” said Newnan Fire Chief David Whitley. ”This is always a good time to reflect and remember those in our military, continued Whitley.

For more information on the event please call 770-254-2355.

Since the 9/11 tragedy, a visitor center has opened in New York City. The Tribute WTC Visitor Center is a project of the September 11th Families' Association. The organization was created by Marian Fontana, Fire Department families and others in the immediate aftermath of September 11th. The mission was to establish a viable communications network for families of victims of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001. In 2004 the Association broadened its mission to create Tribute, a place where members of the September 11th community could connect with each other and with the thousands of visitors who come daily to the World Trade Center site (often called Ground Zero). For more info go to www.tributenyc.org
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Ground Zero Evokes Emotions for General, Wounded Warriors

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, presents a flag flown over Ground Zero in New York to Army Sgt. Joel Dulashanti after a brief ceremony at the site for a group of wounded veterans. The ceremony was part of a United Service Organizations-Microsoft "A Salute to Our Troops" weekend. DoD photo by Samantha L. Quigley

The grey sky had been trying to hold back the rain forecasters had promised yesterday, but it couldn't stave off the drops any longer as wounded servicemembers worked to check their tears during a ceremony at Ground Zero here, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood until Sept. 11, 2001.

For many, including Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, it was a first visit to the hallowed ground. He had been on the job at the Pentagon as director of the Army Operations Center for three weeks on that day when American Airlines Flight 77 tore a hole in the side of building.

"For me, this is particularly a difficult place to be. I just didn't want to come," Chiarelli told the wounded warriors. "Today, I know why I never came to this location. [It was so] I could be here for the first time with you. Being here with you is truly something very, very special.

"I salute each and every one of you," he said, adding a crisp hand salute.

The visit was extremely emotional for some of the servicemembers. Army Staff Sgt. Charles Eggleston, who suffered multiple injuries when his patrol was hit by a roadside bomb near Mosul, Iraq, in 2005, said he was near the Pentagon on Sept. 11, and it was good for him to see the New York site.

"It's good to get a chance to really establish that closure that you never had a chance to [before]," he said. "You can almost feel the spirits here. That's cool. That's the way it is."

Army Cpl. Jeffrey Stowers, who suffers from an enlarged heart caused by a blunt-force trauma about a month ago, called the experience surreal.

"I viewed [the Sept. 11 attack] as it was unfolding on TV at my house," he said. "My wife and I, for the past five years, discussed making a trip up here."

He said it was especially meaningful for him to have made his first trip with 'my family and my family,' referring to his wife, Karri, and his military brethren.

Raw emotions bubbled to the surface when Chiarelli concluded the ceremony by presenting each of the warriors with a cased American flag that had been flown over Ground Zero.

"There are so many people that deserve this more than me. I don't feel worthy of this," Stowers said. "There are people who gave everything."

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
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