Military and civilian members of Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) gathered at Building LF-18 on Naval Station Norfolk to hold a remembrance for the 18th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks and for all the lives that were lost that day.

The memorial ceremony was held during morning colors. After the flag was raised to half-staff, MARMC’s chief selectees performed a reading of the tragic events.

9/11 was the greatest act of domestic terrorism in American history. There were 2,792 people killed as American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center towers. Forty passengers and crew died when United Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania, and 184 perished as American Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon. These numbers do not reflect the first responders and rescue workers who lost their lives that day, or military lives lost in support of the on-going war on terrorism.

“I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when those planes first struck the World Trade Center,” said MARMC Commanding Officer Capt. Tim Barney. “At one time, every adult in the country could probably say the same thing. That was 18 years ago today, and now there are young adults that were not born on 9/11/01. I’m glad that they will not have to live with those images burned into their memories, but they still live in the world that was forever changed by the those tragic events. We owe it to them, to each other and to the victims and their families to remember, not just through ceremonies like today, but every day. I encourage everyone to notice reminders like the flag in the front office passageway who’s stripes are filled with the names of those who lost their lives that day. It had to be a large flag, with small names just to capture the individual tragic losses. There is no flag big enough to capture the names of all the individuals whose lives were forever changed that day. But, I believe that is why the names are listed on the flag of the United States of America. Maybe we should have used a globe?”

For many of the MARMC’s chief petty officer selectees the events of 9/11 had a direct effect on their decision to join the Navy.

“We want to honor those that sacrificed and lost their lives on that day,” said Chief Electrician’s Mate (sel) Mayra Fujiwara who helped coordinate the ceremony. “Some of the chief selects where serving during the attacks and some of us where still in grade school, but either way it made a huge impact on our lives and why we serve.”

MARMC provides surface ship maintenance, management and oversight of private sector maintenance and fleet technical assistance to ships in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and provides support to the 5th and 6th Fleet Area of Responsibilities. They are also responsible for the floating dry-dock Dynamic (AFDL-6).v

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