Medina Patriots Day Celebration Inspires

by Bob Finnan The Gazette
 
Sep 12, 2020 12:15 AM
MEDINA — The Patriots Day ceremony on the 19th anniversary of Sept. 11 was inspiring to many Friday at the 9/11 Memorial behind Medina Fire Station 1.
 
On a marble slab, Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, is quoted by saying, "Let's roll."
 
He led the charge on the flight to stop the terrorists from possibly crashing into the White House. The plane then crashed in Pennsylvania after flying over Medina County.
 
Before leading the charge, he recited the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm with the other passengers. Psalm 23 reads: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."
Medina's David Lariviere, of the U.S. Army, said he's heard the actual flight recordings from that day and that Beamer's words make the hair on his neck stand up.
 
"He was appealing to someone higher," he said Friday after the ceremony.
 
Lariviere said next year's celebration will be extra special when a group of ministers will consecrate the memorial.
 
"It will be on sacred space or hallowed ground," he said.
 
Medina Sunrise Rotary President Kevin Wermer said the ceremony Friday was to memorialize the people involved in that fateful day. He and his wife were both born Sept. 11 the same year. They were in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on 9/11.
"Ever since that day, we've not celebrated our birthday on that day out of respect for what happened," Wermer said.
 
He said they celebrate their birthday the following day.
 
"It all changed for us in 2001," Wermer said. "This is a remembrance for those we lost. We want to honor their sacrifices."
 
Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said Medina's 9/11 Memorial was dedicated July 28, 2018. The Sunrise Rotary's Dr. Kelly Low raised funds to build the memorial.
 
"It seemed fitting and proper (for it to be located behind the fire station)," Hanwell said. "It will continue to be a lasting memorial. We can pass this on to future generations."
 
A steel beam from one of the Twin Towers in New York City is the main focus of the memorial.
 
"9/11 has touched each of us in some way," Medina Fire Chief Bob Painter said.
 
Contact reporter Bob Finnan at (330) 721-4049 or rfinnan@medina-gazette.com.