Posted on 05/27/2005 8:42:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of troops here for Fleet Week took time off Friday to attend two events to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - one a very public show of strength, the other quiet and private.
Almost 300 members of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard took part in the first event, a three-mile run around lower Manhattan followed by a wreath-laying ceremony beside the former World Trade Center site.
As they stood under a cloudless sky at the site of the terrorist strikes, the group let out a shout that reverberated across the 16-acre gap where the towers once stood.
"The Marine Corps like to be loud when they do this, it's a pride thing," explained Sgt. John Hoellwarth, 24, of Antioch, Calif. "They want New York City to hear them."
The other event was held inside the gates of the site, where new buildings will soon rise. A small group, including a woman who lost her sister in the attacks and an Army reservist who helped with the recovery effort, gathered inside the footprint of one of the towers to pray and thank members of the military for their sacrifices.
Cedith Michael of Lebanon, Ohio, came to New York to see her only child, Lance Cpl. Mark Ryan Smith, 20, who recently returned from an eight-month stint in Iraq.
Smith, in town for Fleet Week, took part in the run around lower Manhattan.
"I didn't want to miss him," she said. "In the military, that's one thing you learn - to wait."
Both events highlighted the connection between the civilians killed in the terrorist attacks and the men and women now in uniform.
Marine Capt. Dan McSweeney, of Manhattan, who attended the wreath-laying ceremony, said visiting ground zero "forces you to remember that our world changed on Sept. 11, and that service members' lives continue to be directly impacted by the events of the day."
Fleet Week is an annual event in which thousands of sailors and Marines visit the city as the public gets a chance to view their ships.
SEMPER FI!
Calling all Marine Moms and Dads Wives and Sweethearts.
After a three mile run to the World Trade Center site and laying a memorial wreath, marines gathered at a surrounding fence to look at reconstruction efforts at Ground Zero in New York, Friday May 27, 2005. Marines and sailors are visiting the city during Fleet Week, and annual event for them to visit points of interests around the city while their ships hold openhouse. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Port Authority security, left, watch as a small prayer group including sailors, marines and representatives of 911 families, gather at ground zero at the World Trade Center site, in New York, Friday May 27, 2005. Reverend Bill Minson, from Santa Monica, Ca., who works with 911 family members as a spiritual advisor who lead the group, prayed for the victims of 911 and for military men and women currently fighting a war in Afganistan and Iraq. Marines and sailors are visiting the city during Fleet Week, and annual event for them to visit points of interests around the city while their ships hold openhouse. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Almost 300 members of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard took part in the first event, a three-mile run around lower Manhattan followed by a wreath-laying ceremony beside the former World Trade Center site.
As they stood under a cloudless sky at the site of the terrorist strikes, the group let out a shout that reverberated across the 16-acre gap where the towers once stood.
"The Marine Corps like to be loud when they do this, it's a pride thing," explained Sgt. John Hoellwarth, 24, of Antioch, Calif. "They want New York City to hear them."
Thank you for your services!
A United States Marine lifts up a member of the chorus of the Broadway musical 'Spamalot' during liberty from the U.S. aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy in Times Square during Fleet Week in New York, May 26, 2005. Navy ships including the JFK are visiting New York through the Memorial day weekend for the annual Fleet Week celebrations. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Thank YOU, NormsRevenge, for posting this.
I don't need a reminder, and many here don't need a reminder, and God knows our armed forces don't need a reminder...
The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kenndy passes the Statue of Liberty as she makes her way into New York harbor and up the Hudson River, past Battery Park, May 25, 2005. U.S. Navy ships were parading into New York Wednesday on the opening day of the annual 'Fleet Week' festivities. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Marine Corporal James Daniels, of Manhattan, who was injured by a roadside bomb while seving in Iraq, looks at his wife Jessica Badillo Daniels, not in photo, as the USS John F. Kennedy sails up the Hudson River during Fleet Week, from the deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Wednesday, May 25, 2005 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
bttt
Doesn't look to me like they are praying to allah!
Semper Fi
Someone strike up the music from On the Town...
"The Bronx is up and the Battery's down..."
I was just going to say NY mothers lock up your daughters!
No doubt they're on their way to a poetry reading or to listen to a Mozart concerto.
Thanks for the ping!
Notice who has the girl!
Oooh Raah!
Namsman sends.
Proud Father of PFC Namsman Jr. USMC
I can see it now -
Hey, Gunny - she followed me home - can I keep her? I'll take care of her, honest, please???
5.56mm
Even if the DUmmies and their misguided leaders refuse to remember our Troops cease to forget. God Bless them.....
Thanks for this.
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