Patriots Day observed Sept. 7

John Earl plays “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes during the Patriot Day 9/11 ceremony at Highland Memorial Park in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

The Patriots Day Community Remembrance Ceremony held Sept. 7 at Highland Memorial Park paid tribute to the victims and first responders of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while speakers urged attendees to never forget the tragedy.

A moveable 9/11 wall with multiple panels containing the names of those lost in the attacks was on display at the park in northeast Ocala. A Patriot Ride to the Wall saw members of groups including the Christian Motorcyclists Association and the Punishers Motorcycle Club, a law enforcement group, meet at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion and travel to the park. The Ocala Jeep Club had a display of more than a dozen patriotically decorated vehicles, including Ben and Rosie Adams’ yellow Jeep, adorned with a large heart and an eagle.

Hiers-Baxley Funeral Services sponsored the event and General Manager Bruce Sessler gave opening remarks. A company representative said current plans are to transport the 9/11 wall to different venues.

The ceremony included an invocation by Marion County Fire Rescue Chaplain Josh Dees and the presentation of the colors by the Marion County Memorial Honor Guard and members of local first responder agencies. Hannah Stucky sang the National Anthem and God Bless America. Tom Schmitz, the “Voice of Ocala Talks,” served as moderator.

John Earl provided bagpipe music, including a rendition of “Amazing Grace,” and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit provided a flyover. Ocala Police Department chaplain Tony Clayton gave a benediction.

A special guest was Howard Mautner, 100, a World War II veteran who served in the Army Air Corps. Mautner led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance while holding an American flag.

A group of Punishers Motorcycle Club members and many others stopped to shake hands with Mautner and thank him.

Another honored guest was Jason Hartley, 47, a New York City Fire Department EMT in 2001 and later an EMT/ firefighter, who responded to the Twin Towers scene shortly after the towers collapsed.

“I still have visions,” he said of the horror and destruction.

Ocala Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Eric Prendergast was one of the featured speakers.

“The horrors of 9/11 forever changed our nation,” Prendergast said.

Prendergast said 343 firefighters who rushed in buildings to help victims “paid the ultimate price” and the 9/11 tragedy led to significant changes in the way firefighters approach their work: impacting training, equipment and preparedness.

MCFR Capt. Pamela Fallen-Driggers gave a history of fire house bell ringing to signal certain events and a bell was rung during the ceremony. Dunnellon Police Chief Chris Scaglione gave a timeline of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Fallen-Driggers and OPD Lt. Eric Hooper served as co-chairs for the program.

Steve Gardner, a board member with American Hometown Veterans Assist, was also a guest speaker. AHVA, based in Archer, in nearby Alachua County, has a mission “to make a difference in the lives of American veterans and first responders by assisting them with urgent needs, scholarships, and finding resolutions to overcome barriers and challenges while working to empower them towards a better quality of life,” according to the organization’s website.

The keynote speaker was Craig Ham, a Vietnam War veteran, retired U.S. Army colonel, former administrator with Marion County Public Schools and president of the Marion County Veterans Council, Inc. and the Kingdom of the Sun Chapter of the Military Officers of America Association.

Ham recalled seeing a plane crash into a building on a television at Forest High School and said he “immediately knew it was a terrorist attack.”

“9/11 should have been a wake-up call, like Pearl Harbor was, but the galvanizing influence of the event has been forfeited in this age of instant information and polarizing views,” he stated in an email after the ceremony.

“America must remain strong, and to do that we need to unify the citizenry around the very concepts that made us a world leader to begin with. We must focus on the universal truths of our forefathers,” Ham stated.