DeKalb County and the City of Smithville held a remembrance ceremony last Sunday, honoring the victims and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. The ceremony saw a larger number in attendance and featured local speakers and entertainers.

The ceremony, originally scheduled as an outdoor event, was moved to the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center due to rain in the area. There, local first responders, firefighters, and law enforcement joined the public to remember that terrible date.

The event began with remarks by Smithville Mayor Josh Miller who said, “Today is a day of remembrance and we are here to honor those who lost their lives. Twenty-one years ago, 19 cowards boarded planes across this country and killed almost 3,000 innocent people including over 400 emergency personnel.”

Miller then recognized local veterans and first responders in the crowd, asking them to stand.

County Mayor Matt Adcock then addressed the crowd saying, “We are thankful for our first responders and our military personnel. We are here to remember the fallen-on September 11, 2001.”

Smithville Fire Captain Jeff Wright and Lieutenant John Poss then posted colors as County Mayor Adcock led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Emily Phillips then sang the National Anthem.

DeKalb Veterans Service Officer Bill Rutherford then spoke, reminding people of the lingering effects of 9-11. “There are still people dying every day of cancer from that day 9-11. When we went to bring them to justice, we had 2,456 service men and women die in Afghanistan. We had another 1,822 contractors killed and a staggering 20,752 wounded. The National Defense Ribbon is given to a service member when we are in a defensive posture. It will be suspended in January and that will be a 21-year run. The longest run in its history that we’ve been at war.”

Afterwards, a three-volley rifle salute was performed just outside the building, with the playing of Taps following.

Smithville First Free Will Baptist Church minister Andy Patterson then took to the podium, offering remembrance and prayer. “On this day, 21 years ago, 246 people woke up in preparation for their morning flights; 2,606 people arose from sleep in preparation for work; 343 firefighters got dressed in preparation for their morning shift; 60 police officers made preparations for their morning patrols; and eight paramedics prepared for the morning shift of saving lives. None of them saw past 10:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,” said Patterson.

“Our unifying cause since 9-11-2001 has been never forget and how could we ever? I could never erase that day from my mind as I am sure you cannot. On that day my heart changed. We all viewed evil on a grand scale. Families drew closer together, the nation prayed, flags were unfurled and displayed all across our neighborhoods and homes again. God Bless America was sung on the steps of the US Capitol. Certainly, none of us could ever forget 9/11. Let’s agree together as citizens to never forget in our lifetime the heroes, the men and women, and the first responders who rushed into the burning buildings. Let’s remember we have a God who loves us and wants us as a nation to come back to him,” he said.

Patterson then read a poem which was written after the 9/11 tragedy from the perspective of God called “I Was There.”

A couple of country music then took to the stage to perform tributes to 9-11. Cody Purvis performed “Boots on the Ground” and Daryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten.”

Then, Aaron Tippin was joined by his wife Thea, and son Tom as they performed a song that debuted on the courthouse steps in DeKalb County, just days after the 9-11 tragedy, “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly.”

After the event, Tippin shared his experience on 9-11. “I remember I was in my gun store. A bunch of troopers and people would stop in there every morning for a biscuit and coffee. We were all standing there talking when someone walked in and said ‘Hey man, I just heard the World Trade Center had been hit by an airplane.’ I said, ‘That’s crazy. That’s nuts.’ We turned on the TV and sure enough there it was,” said Tippin.

“I told the girls who worked in the store, let’s just shut down and go home and be with our families, and before we got the doors closed, all the folks in DeKalb County started coming in the door to buy ammunition. It shows you, in a time like that, they were preparing to defend their homeland. That’s the type of America we need right now,” Tippin continued.

“I am proud to be a part of this. In our little county in Tennessee, to have an event like this and see this place full of citizens, man that’s a big deal”, he said. Tippin said that following the years after 9-11, he travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan nine times to perform for U.S. troops.

On September 18, 2001, Tippin debuted the song “Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly” at the DeKalb Freedom Rally held at the courthouse in Smithville. He said the song had actually been written two years before the event, but found meaning after the tragedy.

“The events of 9-11 gave birth to that song, but that song was written. It was written two years before the towers fell but the record label I was with at that time didn’t want me to do anything patriotic on my songs so this song was just laying in the catalog. After the towers fell, I remembered it and brought it up to do a single as a benefit for the Red Cross.”

“I didn’t want a sad song about how our country got sucker punched. I wanted something that made Americans feel proud and good about themselves in that when times get tough you grab yourselves up by the bootstraps, get back up, and get back on with living free. That’s the kind of song I wanted to send to America,” said Tippin.

At the end of the program, first responders and law enforcement took to the stage for recognition and a group photo.