ROY — The war on terror is still on.
That was the key message of a combined Hill Air force Base and Utah Air Force Association 9/11 commemoration program Saturday afternoon at the Hill Aerospace Museum.
In fact, it was difficult at times to hear the program with the F16s booming overhead on training missions. A flyover by four F-16s began the program, but Col. Scott Zobrist, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill, said the jets then had to commence critical training missions.
"In essence, they are preparing for war," he said. "Bottom line. Your Air Force is engaged around the world to defend freedom. … Your Air Force is certainly making a huge difference and you should be proud."
The 30-minute outdoor program attracted more than 300 people and was appropriately held amidst a fleet of retired, but impressive aircraft, maintained by the Aerospace Museum.
Zobrist said it sounded crazy before 9/11 to talk of shooting down civilian aircraft, but that's what the possibilities were immediately following the 9/11 attacks, as the nation's skies changed like never before.
The guest speaker was Allison Hill, a paramedic, who responded to ground zero a day after the 9/11 attack and spent seven weeks in New York as a volunteer.
"It was amazing how profoundly your country was changed in those minutes," she said of 9/11, because a new vulnerability was found in our homeland.
"The first thing I noticed was the huge pillar of smoke," Hill said, recalling her arrival in New York, noting the eerie silence not typical of New York.
She helped staff three aid stations and provided some trauma counseling during her 9/11 service.
"We desperately searched for survivors," she said, but soon that gave way to recovery efforts only.
Her keywords for this enormous tragedy: "Please remember," she stressed, but said we need to maintain resilience and refuse to give up.
The service concluded with a wreath to honor 9/11 victims being placed at the base of the flagpole and the Northridge High ROTC lowered the flag to half-staff.
Then a pause for a minute of silence to remember the dead.
The Air Force Association Chapter 237, an Air Force civilian education organization, also sponsored a 9/11 memorial motorcycle ride Saturday morning, The motorcycle ride began at a Clearfield restaurant and ended at the Hill Aerospace Museum, where riders joined local firefighters, police and the Hill honor guard for 9/11 commemoration.
All of the funds raised go to the Operation Warm Heart program to support Hill AFB families in need.
The names of those killed on 9/11 and looping video of coverage of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, were also set up in a nearby remembrance tent.
There was also a collection point for people to donate to the widows of the 9/11 attack.
"This is a great opportunity to refresh the memories of people coming into the Air Force as to why we are still fighting the war on terror," said Master Sgt. John Deegan, 75th Security Forces Squadron First Sergeant, said in a press release. "This is a not only a commemoration to the 9/11 victims, but an educational opportunity for the younger airmen."
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com