One of the larger local 9/11 ceremonies held every year is the one at Monroe Community College, at the Brighton Campus. That is where a concrete memorial was erected the year after the attacks, with the support of students.
One of the speakers on Sunday was Richard Thomas, a 14-year Navy veteran who is also an MCC student.
He enlisted soon after the terrorist attacks. Thomas says he does look back at the time and think about the unity that a lot of Americans showed in the weeks and months following the attacks.
“In times of crisis, one thing I’ve noticed about America is that we do have a tendency to come together; in my personal opinion, unfortunately, it only happens in times of crisis but I do miss that feeling of camaraderie, of brothers and sisters banding together to show a combined front," he told WXXI News.
Blake Moore is president of the MCC Student Government Association. He is in his mid-30s now, and he says the memorial built at MCC is an important history lesson for the younger students.
“I’m of the age, I’m an adult student so I’m old enough to remember when it actually happened, so I notice a lot of the students now, especially the 18, 19 year olds, they really don’t remember whatsoever so it’s really kind of a chance for them to understand what was, and how much of a legacy it left on the country.”
When the sun shines through the memorial at MCC, it casts a shadow of the twin towers.
