9/11: After 15 years, Avoyelles still remembers

After 15 years, a nation still remembers and still grieves the senseless loss of lives that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
In Avoyelles Parish, many miles from the scene of those tragic attacks, a group dedicated to spreading joy and hope in the form of painted rocks held a ceremony on the courthouse steps in Marksville to mark the solemn occasion.
At noon this past Sunday (Sept. 11), the Avoyelles Parish Rocks group remembered the occasion with a display of painted rocks, many with patriotic designs and messages evoking the emotions of that day 15 years ago.
Nicholas Jacob sang the National Anthem with emotion, reminding those in attendance that the song is more than just something that happens before their favorite sporting event.
Danielle Moreau sang “God Bless America,” a fitting song for the occasion.
A Louisiana National Guard unit marched in review to honor those who died when 19 Islamic extremists hijacked four passenger airliners, turning the large airplanes into missiles.
Two of those planes struck the World Trade Center’s “Twin Towers” in New York City, a third hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane from the hijackers.
Almost 3,000 people died in the buildings and on the planes that day. Those attacks led to the “Global War on Terror” with military campaigns in Afghanistan and then Iraq.
First responders and the 9/11 attacks were also remembered last Friday (Sept. 9), as the parish’s first responders -- police, fire fighters and EMS personnel -- participated in the annual 9/11 remembrance procession past every school in the parish.
They also held a brief memorial ceremony at the 911 Center in Mansura to honor those 400 first responders who died in the 9/11 attacks and those who dedicated their lives as first responders in Avoyelles.