September 11 ceremonies honor courage, service, determination

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake residents, Moses Lake Fire Department and Moses Lake Police department personnel, Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center students and staff paid tribute to the people who died, and who were saved, during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, in ceremonies Friday. 

Moses Lake 9/11 Memorial Tribute

No one knew what was coming that morning, said Moses Lake Fire Chief Art Perillo – people went to work, got on a plane, reported for their shift at the firehouse or the precinct.  

"By the end of that day, everything that Americans knew about safety, sacrifice and service changed forever," Perillo said.  

Moses Lake Police Chief Dave Sands said it was a day of stark contrast. 

"It was a day marked by heartbreaking loss, as so many days since, but by extraordinary courage," Sands said. 

Moses Lake City Manager Rob Karlinsey quoted the words of a New York Fire Department captain who would not leave the injured people he was trying to evacuate as the World Trade Center tower started to disintegrate. 

"When we look back on September 11, 2001, my hope is that we not only remember the tragedy, but that we also remember the courage and the greater love of those who responded. They did not hesitate," he said.  

Nor was the casualty list from the attacks limited to September 11, Perillo said – first responders and volunteers at the crash sites have suffered from health problems, and some have died. 

"Today brings to light that the risks of the job do not end when the fire is out or the scene is cleared," Perillo said.  

The first responders on the scene accepted the risks, Sands said.  

"You've seen the videos. They walked up to it," Sands said. "In many cases, they looked up at it as they responded, and yet they still climbed the stairwells." 

Sands and Perillo also paid tribute to the families of the victims.  

"The strength they've displayed over the past 25 years is remarkable," Sands said. 

Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center 9/11 remembrance

Perillo was an active-duty firefighter on September 11, and he said the attacks changed the fire service – and changed him. Sands was working the graveyard shift the previous night, he said, and woke up to a completely different world.  

But the generation that was born in the immediate aftermath of the attacks are young adults now, and they and their younger contemporaries only know of it through the stories they're told. That's why, Sands said, it's important to keep telling young people what happened. 

"Remember," Sands said. "Those people that were born after, they don't understand the emotion, they don't understand what it was like." 

Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center criminal justice instructor Dave Ruffin told students the story of what happened that day during the skills center's commemoration. He and his students have talked a lot about September 11, and subsequent terror attacks of all kinds, he said.  

"I want them to remember the people that served this country before and afterwards, and how important that is, and that we don't forget," Ruffin said. "I want them to remember not only those people that lost their lives, but also the people that help make this country safe every single day, and that we're lucky that we live in the great country that we do. And I think after this week, they get it." 

Aiden Ray and Whitten Schmidt from the firefighting class and Emma Gonzalez from the criminal justice class raised the American flag outside the school then lowered it to half-mast, and Everett Rimple performed the fire service's traditional memorial to firefighters, ringing a bell.  

Schmidt said he wants people to learn about the bravery shown by those who responded to the summons for help. They didn't know what was going on, but they kept pushing forward, he said. 

"The bravery that they showed," Schmidt said. 

Gonzalez said it was important for her to remember the people who died in the attacks, and Ray said he wanted people to understand the importance of the job done by firefighters.  

"I think it's important to keep tradition alive," Rimple said. 

Sands told the crowd in Civic Park that he hopes people will remember the feeling of unity that characterized the immediate aftermath of the attack. 

"Let us never forget what happened and let us never forget that even in the darkest times, the American spirit endures," he said. 

    Everett Rimple, a firefighting student at Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, pays tribute to first responders and others who died in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks by ringing a ceremonial bell, a tradition in the fire service. Criminal justice instructor Dave Ruffin stands at attention.
  

    Moses Lake firefighters and students in the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center firefighting class salute as the ceremony in honor of 9/11 begins.
  

    From left: Emma Gonzalez, Witten Schmidt and Aiden Ray raise the American flag during the ceremony commemorating 9/11 at Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center.