CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The somber events of Sept. 11, 2001, were marked in West Virginia Friday with the theme of ‘We will never forget.’
More than 3,000 citizens died in the terrorist attacks in New York City at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa. Six of the victims had significant connections to West Virginia.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin rode his motorcycle between memorials in Kanawha and Cabell counties to remember the events of 9/11.
“We’re honoring today those people who lost their lives. The first responders who lost their lives. People who answered the call,” Manchin said.
Manchin’s stops included the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Institute where a Gold Star Family Monument is located and a stop in Barboursville where there’s a similar monument.
Manchin said it’s important to pass along what happened 19 years ago.
“There’s so many young people that were either too young or weren’t even born on 9/11, 2001 and what they must never forget and what we must never let them forget is that we lost almost 3,000 Americans on that horrible day in our own land,” Manchin said.
Manchin usually participates in a memorial ride with dozens of bikers but it was largely virtual Friday because of the pandemic.
Huntington native Dr. Paul Ambrose was 32 when he died 19 years ago. He was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. His father and mother, Ken and Sharon Ambrose, were part of 9/11 ceremonies Friday that took place as part of the State Police Cadet graduation ceremony at the state Culture Center.
In a video interview, Paul’s mother, Sharon said her son, who worked for the U.S. Surgeon General, would have been a great help during the pandemic.
“It’s made me think so often of Paul who had such a deep interest in public health and was also working on additional work on preventive medicine and how he would have been involved in something like this,” Ambrose said.
Gov. Jim Justice told the Ambroses they had the support of the state.
“You’re surely not alone and you can see that by all that’s come to your aid. None of use will ever known your loss,” Justice said.
Justice joined the couple in ringing a bell four times representing the four plane crashes.
A moment of silence was observed during a 9/11 ceremony at Yeager Airport in Charleston.
“I could look out my window and see the smoke from the third plane that went into the Pentagon and it was jarring,” U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito said at the Yeager ceremony. Capito was a member of the U.S. House at the time.
Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford said there were many heroes on Sept. 11, 2001.
“The law enforcement officers, the firefighters, the paramedics, they were running into the situation when others were running away,” Rutherford said.
Yeager Airport Executive Director Nick Keller said 9/11 resulted in the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
“There’s always continues improvements with security and safety and that’s the goal of the airports, the TSA and the airlines, everyone wants to have a safe system to prevent another tragedy like this,” Keller said.
MetroNews Reporter Jake Flatley contributed to this story