MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (KATIE INMAN) -- Sixteen years ago this week the terror attacks targeting New York and Washington claimed nearly three thousand lives. A memorial ceremony held Monday on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University shows just how fresh those painful memories remain.
The sound of Taps rang across the M-T-S-U campus early on the morning of 9/11 in a show of respect for those who died that day, and those who’ve died since in the nation’s war on terror.
Tammy Bass spoke at the memorial. Her son, Marine David Bass, died in 2006. She says even though her son did not die on 9/11, his sacrifice was like that of so many others who chose to serve following the terror attacks.
“I was grateful that the nation responded in the way it did,” she said, “by coming together as a community, by enlisting, by not running and hiding, I mean we’re Americans. We don’t do that, and to know that and to remember that is important.”
National Guard recruiter Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Borrajo also attended the MTSU memorial. He says the Bass story of love and loss is a reminder of how Americans are still feeling the effects of 9/11.
“It tugged at my heart strings quite a bit,” Borrago said, “especially the mother of the soldier and her story of the entire thing because it brought me back to everything… it was a very devastating day when all that happened. It really reminds me of why I serve myself.”
The time taken to reflect each year is a reminder of how far our nation has come since that day in 2001.