There were a number of remembrances around the Rochester area region on Sunday, on the 21st anniversary of 9/11, when terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
One ceremony that has been going on for 20 years now, was at the Brighton campus of Monroe Community College.
That’s where a concrete memorial depicting the World Trade Center was built in 2002.
Mark Maddalina was the lead designer of the project. He works at the architectural firm, SWBR.
He has worked on a lot of projects over the years, but Maddalina said the memorial at MCC has special significance for him.
“I’ve never been so close to any project year after year, come back. It’s very touching that they hold the ceremony. I think it means the most that they use this as an educational tool to remember and teach generations from so much that happened that day and every day since,” said Maddalina.
Many young MCC students weren’t even alive when the 9/11 attacks happened, but Eric Wheeler was already in the military. He is the Assistant Director of Veteran Services at MCC and has served in the U.S. Naval and Army Reserves, both stateside and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“21 years ago today the world changed and our country changed. So we have this opportunity, not only to honor those who were lost on 9/11, but also to look back and remember the heroes who served our country, the fallen and also their families,” said Wheeler.
Paula Barlow is the MCC Student Government Association president, and she is old enough to remember the 9/11 attacks. She said that event helped inspire her to be more aware of world events.
“To always keep vigilant on world politics and what’s going on in the world around them,” said Barlow. “Prior to that I was in my own little bubble, I didn’t really focus on government or what was going on in the world. I focused on my family and that was it. But that opened my eyes.”
Barlow also has three sons who have served in the military and she hopes that they and other young people continue to be aware of the history and the impacts surrounding the 9/11 attacks.
