It was a calm and quiet morning on Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), Cuba. The sound of the national colors softly rustling in the wind can be heard beneath the daily playing of the national anthem across the base.

Residents from across NSGB begin to fill the rows of pews at the base chapel for the memorial service to remember the events from 16 years ago.

The service began with the singing of the national anthem and the posting of the colors by the color guard. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, NSGB Firemen and residents all joined together in solitude to honor the lives of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We still mourn and remember the innocent victims who lost their lives in New York, Northern Virginia, and Pennsylvania," said Rear Adm. Edward Cashman, Commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

Almost three-thousand families would be forever altered on that sunny and seemingly normal Tuesday morning.

"It was a transformative day," stated Cashman. "Everyone remembered where they were and what they were doing that morning."

First responders woke up and put on their uniforms for the day, not knowing that, for many of them, it would be the last time that they saw their loved ones. In the wake of true tragedy, true heroes ran toward the signs of danger.

"September 11th was the day the people of the United States fully understood that the world had changed," Cashman said in closing.

The memorial service also featured a JTF Trooper who was among the firemen across the nation, bonded and united through tragedy, that came together to assist in the rubble removal in New York City.

"This was the most humbling task I have ever done," said the JTF Trooper.

Construction workers, first responders and volunteers from across the country had come together during what would become a defining moment in our nation's history.

The memorial service continued with the ringing of a bell six times. Each ring was significant of an event that happened on Sept. 11, 2001. The first and second ring signified the planes that crashed into the North and South World Trade Center towers in New York City. The third ring stood for the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth ring of the bell signified the collapse of the South Tower. The fifth ring was a memorial to the heroic actions of the passengers aboard flight 93 before it crashed in Pennsylvania. The sixth and final ring signified the collapse of the North tower.

Concluding the ceremony was the traditional 21-gun salute followed by the playing of Taps and the presentation of the folded flag to the JTF trooper who spoke at the service and volunteered in the wake of the attacks 16 years ago. The room was absolutely silent. Those in attendance thoughtfully remembered the lives lost and how the world has forever changed.

"Today is Patriot Day," stated the JTF Trooper. "It is not a day of celebration, but a day of remembrance."

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