Despite the effort 24 years ago to destroy the American spirit, the country stands strong.
That was the message Thursday from Army Col. Matthew Mason, new commander of the Pine Bluff Arsenal. He was speaking at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony, held on the plaza of the Pine Bluff Civic Center, where he was joined by city leaders, students, fire and police personnel, first responders and other citizens.
“We experienced malevolence, but the soul of our nation remains unbroken,” said Mason, who took the reins of the Arsenal in July. “We rose up and we served.”
Mason, like Mayor Vivian Flowers, who introduced him, took note of Pine Bluff native Petty Officer Nehamon Lyons IV, who was one of 184 individuals who died when one of the terrorist-controlled planes hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
“He had a warm smile, a quiet strength and an unwavering dedication to his country,” Mason said, adding that Lyons stood with thousands of other heroes — those killed that day, and even years later, from the crashes — as well as the first responders who lost their lives trying to help and save others.
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Mason said he was just graduating college and was headed into the service as a second lieutenant when 9/11 occurred. On that day, two planes hit the World Trade Center towers in New York, one hit the Pentagon in Washington and a fourth plane, heading for a federal building in the nation’s capital, was overtaken from the terrorists through the heroism of 40 passengers and crew members and crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa. In all, almost 3,000 people perished.
The crowd of more than 100 squinted and fanned themselves in the bright, hot day. U.S. Navy Petty Officer Rakayla Jones presided over the ceremony that included greetings from Mayor Flowers, an invocation by Elder Larry Rogers, who is a retired Marine Corps sergeant, the presentation of the colors by the Pine Bluff High School JROTC, the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Madilyn Curry, a student at Friendship Aspire Academy, the singing of the national anthem by Jalese Allen, a member of the Watson Chapel High School Choir, and a musical selection by the Pine Bluff High School Choir.
A tribute to Lyons was also given by Vonysha Goodwin, one of his classmates.
Earlier on Thursday, members of the Pine Bluff Fire Department gathered around the flag pole at the north side of the Pine Bluff Civic Center where they sounded the horns on several fire trucks and had a moment of silence in memory of the fire department personnel lost that fateful day.
