Freshmen at Thomas Jefferson High School were still in diapers on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists aboard hijacked planes created the tragedy we know as 9/11. On the 13th anniversary of the tragedy, their Senior Army Instructor, LTC Frederick Holland led students in a remembrance of the attacks in an assembly that also featured a West Point recruiter who talked with students about the benefits of an education at the U.S. Military Academy.
With a slideshow in the background featuring photos and statistics about the lives lost on 9/11, JROTC Cadet Adriana Dominguez read the Presidential Proclamation for Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. LTC Holland shared with students that he was at work in the nation’s capital when he heard the news of the 9/11 attacks. He told the students that his immediate reaction was to begin organizing employees to vacate the building to move to safety.
“In the future, you will be the people on the front lines as firefighters, police, medical personnel, or first responders,” he told students. “You have to be vigilant at all times. America changed forever on that day. The terrorists wanted to divide us, but they actually strengthened us and brought us all together.”
