21 Years Later, Veterans Mark 9/11 at Pittsfield Monument
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, local veterans gathered around the city's Iraq and Afghanistan War Memorial to honor the "true one percenters" who answered the call to fight for their country in a time of great need.
"Today, it's been 7,665 days since that terrible day," Mark Pompi, who served in the Army as a sergeant, first class, said to a crowd of around 50 community members and veterans.
"In direct relation to those attacks, these men and millions more answered the call and volunteered to fight back against terror. They were all Army, they were all volunteers, they all left behind family and friends to go forth into harm's way knowing the risks and accepting them anyway. The very true one percenters."
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Brian Willette, who is a National and State VFW sergeant at arms and a Purple Heart recipient, told the story of where he was on Sept. 11, 2001, and how it has impacted his family.
"We all remember where we were on that day, on that fateful day," he said.
Willette was at Fort Dix, N.J., training for a NATO peacekeeping mission and found out that his cousin was also at the base. He spent days trying to locate his family member and finally tracked him down just an hour before learning of the attacks.
"We agreed we would meet later that day by the PX to get a couple of beers," Willette said. "Needless to say, that moment did not happen. Within an hour the United States will be under attack."
He said he called his children and told them that the soldiers would "get the people who did this to us."
Willette never imagined that his children would be fighting the same war he did but, less than a decade later, his daughter was on her way to Iraq, his son was headed to Fort Benning, Ga., for training, and he was getting ready to go to Afghanistan.
"This was the life of military families throughout this war. It was continuous uncertainty and we didn't know who would be deploying next or where we will be going and we all wanted to serve and, ironically, my daughter was the first one it gets into combat action. Her base is attacked by a rocket in Baghdad on New Year's Eve 2009 into '10 and she called me up to tell me and I couldn't wait to get over there. Here's my daughter in combat and dad's not even over there yet," he said.
"So I deployed myself to Afghanistan and on Sept. 11, 2010, I was flying American flags to be given as souvenirs with plaques and what have you, we found out that would be commanding this truck on this mission that was coming up on the 13th, so it's out of that mission that our vehicle was struck by an IED. Our crew made it out OK, I'm grateful for that.
"It wrecked us up pretty good, but like I say we all made it home, and shortly thereafter, my son, Kevin, is coming to Afghanistan."
Willette said the reunion between him and his son as being like "the first day of kindergarten" except in a combat zone. His son was later wounded by a hand grenade and earned a bronze star with valor.
The memorial is located in the Veterans Memorial Park on South Street. It was dedicated two years ago on the 19th anniversary of 9/11 and honors five Berkshire County servicemen lost in the following wars: Sgt. 1st Class Daniel H. Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Spc. Michael R. DeMarsico II, 20, of North Adams, and Spc. Mitchell K. Daehling, 24, of Dalton, all in Afghanistan; and Sgt. Glenn R. Allison, 24, of Pittsfield, and Chief Warrant Officer Stephen M. Wells, 29, of North Egremont, in Iraq.
The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon left nearly 3,000 people dead, thousands wounded and launched two of the nation's longest wars. The search for the terrorist organization behind the attacks, al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, led to invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We all have deep memories of those tragic images when our borders were attacked," Mayor Linda Tyer said at the ceremony.
"Many Americans lost their lives. Our public safety firefighters, police officers, EMS, medical personnel all rushed to provide care and to rescue and save as many people as possible our gratitude is extended to them."
The United States finally withdrew from Afghanistan last year, a decade after killing bin Laden and after failing to install any kind of stable democracy in that Central Asian country.
Numerous people with connections to Berkshire County were lost in the attacks, including Peter Goodrich of Williamstown, Pittsfield native the Rev. Francis Grogan, and Richard Keane, whose father was from Pittsfield and who spent part of his life in Dalton.
Pompi closed his remarks on a positive note about "hope and resilience and community and how Americans always put aside their differences to help others in need."
"You may recall that a year ago today we were living through the sad fall of Afghanistan and dealing with the aftermath of a humanitarian crisis," he explained.
"[State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier] called me the day after the airport in Kabul was attacked and asked if I would help to stand up a team of veterans to assist in the relocation of some of the Afghan refugees that were already in the works, bringing them into Western Massachusetts and to Berkshire County. Of course, I said yes.
"In the ensuing months, we built a team of veteran volunteers to augment the deeds of the agency tasked with the mission, the Jewish Family Services of Western Mass and Berkshire County, and a host of faith-based groups around the county that stepped up to assist these refugees."
The veterans provided some muscle, logistics, and the experience of working with the Afghan peoples' customs and traditions and other organizations helped raise money for household items and things to ease their transitions.
"One of those families was moved into Pittsfield right in this neighborhood. Over the next few months, they settled in to start their new lives in the United States. I work in manufacturing in the county. I was scheduled to conduct an interview this past summer with an individual that from the looks of a very impressive resume was an Afghan national," Pompi explained.
"Unbeknownst to me, this individual was part of one of the families that we'd helped the transition. After a brief introduction, I let on that I was a team that worked to help settle them. It was a very emotional and proud moment. Yes, I heard that person and I can report that everything is going very well so as they say hope springs eternal."
VFW Post 448 Commander Arnold Perras, the emcee of the ceremony, put out a call for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Desert Storm veterans.
"As you witness here today, the veterans are still very active in our community but desperately need your help and new ideas to continue our programs and ceremonies," he said. "We are now offering a five-year free membership to Afghanistan Desert Storm veterans."
A recording of World War II veteran Anthony Pastore, who passed away last year, singing the national anthem opened the ceremony along with the posting of colors by the Pittsfield Fire Department Color Guards. The rifle salute was done by the Dalton American Legion Post 155.
Tags: 9/11, memorial, veterans,
