Lack of unity lamented at 9/11 remembrance ceremony

In the months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, America “changed in a good way,” coming together to stand as one nation in defiance of enemy forces that wanted to see the country in ruins, Holton resident Erich Campbell said.

“Everywhere you looked there were American flags hanging out,” Campbell, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Purple Heart Medal recipient, told an audience of about 75 at Linscott Park on Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the attacks. “Congress even got together, Democrats and Republicans, and sang, ‘God Bless America’… We were people who stood united.”

Today, however, the situation is much different, he said.

“There’s such a divide in this country, between Republican and Democrat, between everything,” Campbell said. “Is that where we need to be? …Each side thinks they’re right. We make things that aren’t political, political. And it’s a shame. Do we need to get another bloody nose or black eye before we come together as a country?”

Campbell’s emotional speech was part of a remembrance of the events that transpired two decades ago that day, when about 3,000 people lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., as well as the plane crash near Shanksville, Pa., which all present noted likely ended an attempt to destroy another American landmark.

Another of the day’s speakers, Holton resident Nancy Fontaine, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, recounted her experiences of the 9/11 attacks — particularly what happened at the Pentagon, where she was working on the north side of the building. American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 64 passengers and crew members, crashed into the building’s west side.

“I always tell people that I was in the right place at the wrong time,” Fontaine said. “We were able to get out of the building pretty quickly, and then we spent hours trying to find our way home… Just getting home that day was a struggle, but it was the least of our worries.”

Also speaking on Saturday was Bill Elmer, a former Jackson County Commissioner and commander of Bernie Deghand American Legion Post 423 in Mayetta, recalling where he was when the attacks occurred and encouraging others to do the same.

On that day, Elmer said, he was overseeing the construction of a new house when his wife came out to tell him about the crashes of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The two of them went back to their house to follow up on the reports of the attacks.

“All types of emotions — shock, disbelief, fear — set in,” Elmer said. “But as people sprang into action, I realized, I hoped and prayed that life would go on, so I returned to what I was doing.”

For more on this story, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account and select the Sept. 15, 2021 edition under “E-Editions.”