9/11 Remembrance
By Lion Ruth Heaney
“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.” ~Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl.
In 2021, the Thurmont Lions Club asked Lion George Bolling to develop a remembrance program on 9/11. Lion Bolling recruited Lion Carie Stafford to assist with a program honoring those who perished and to express gratitude to first responders.
The Thurmont Lions Club resolved to continue 9/11 Remembrance. The national 25th anniversary and the 5th Thurmont Lions Club 9/11 Remembrance will be held on Friday, September 11, at Memorial Park in Thurmont at 6:30 p.m. There will be traditional posting of colors by scouts, law enforcement and other civic organizations, music, and an exceptional speaker, Retired Fire Captain Daryl Byrne.
Retired Fire Captain Byrne’s career is singular in his commitment to the United States armed services. He began in the U.S. Navy as a Corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class, assigned to the Medivac coordinator in Naval Hospital Groton and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His next assignment was Norway as part of the cold weather unit. Thereafter, he served in the Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where he received the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V for valor.
His lifework continued with the State of Connecticut fire service at the University of Connecticut Health Center. This all-hazards fire department provided emergency fire and medical responses across the state of Connecticut. On 9-11-2001, at the request of FDNY and the New Jersey Port Authority, his department was called upon to assist at ground zero.
Please come to the 9/11 Remembrance. We can express thankfulness to first responders, such as Retired Fire Captain Byrne and his group, who experienced gruesome scenes. The 9/11 Remembrance allows each of us to express sorrow for those at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and on United Airlines Flight 93.
Inscribed on the wall at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is this: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
