On September 11th, 2023, under heavy rainfall, local First Responders and Garden City Community College Students and Staff gathered within the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts building to remember and reflect upon the September 11th attacks on the United States 22 years ago. The ceremony began with the presentation of the United States Colors and blasts of trumpets and drums as the GCCC (Garden City Community College) Band belted a reverent playing of the National Anthem. Speakers then began to look back on the fateful day, painting a picture for those less exposed to the events and encouraging those in attendance to spread the uniting message of 9/11. Nathan Sheridan, who served as Chaplain for the Garden City Police Department, describes the necessity of coming together to remember the day and the lives lost.
“We have a tendency to forget,” Sheridan said. “This is a pausing of our life and our schedule. It is a beneficial interruption for us to remember back on what happened twenty-two years ago. The further we get away from it the easier it is to diminish what was felt on that day.”
Dan Woellhof, a communications supervisor for the Garden City Police Department, explains why events of remembrance and acknowledgment are so important for moving forward as a country.
“The sheer totality of everything that happened needs to be brought up to those who don’t truly understand what 9/11 is,” Woellhof said. “America came together on that day and it’s important that we come together now.” 9/11 was also an especially impactful day for all first responder forces across the nation. Brecken Ralston, a criminal justice sophomore, connects the influence of 9/11 to those who risk their lives every day protecting the nation.
“For first responders, any day can be your last day,” Ralston said. “It’s a big deal for us because we would do the same as those heroes that day. Hopefully, we’ll always have first responders to take the call and step up.” Ralston was sincere in his statements as during the attacks on 9/11, departments within Finney County were called to aid in the recovery after the attacks. Members of the Garden City Fire Department describe the events within their department on that tragic day.
“Believe it or not, there was talk of having some of the departments in the county deployed to NYC.” Members of the GCFD also described how their image changed as firefighters changed after that day.
“We became more guarded, training became more intense, and as time went on it changed for all of us after the 343 firefighters perished in that building. So, a lot of things fire service-wise changed upon that day. A lot more people now understand what we do as firefighters. Unfortunately, this tragedy is what made people realize what we risk and what we are willing to put on the line.” 9/11 is not simply a page in a history book, When armed forces attending the event described how 9/11 changed society, they described the pivotal day as unifying.
“It’s sad that it took a tragedy for everyone to become a union. No one hated each other, there were no bad things on the news, and everyone was nice to one another. We don’t understand why it is so hard for us to do that today.”
