Remembering Sept. 11

PLATTSBURGH | A September 11 ceremony planned on Crab Island was kept ashore by weather on Monday morning. But reenactors used musket volley, formation and a ceremonial wreath to remember the fallen on Sept. 11, 1814, and on Sept. 11, 2001. An early memorial beside the lake led to an impromptu second gathering with a crowd of residents singing the National Anthem. Ceremony at both sites was in memory of those killed on American soil. John Rock portrayed Naval Commodore Thomas Macdonough as he spoke about the American veterans buried at Crab Island and the 2,977 killed in terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Penn. Rock is a member of the Clinton County American Legion and Friends of Crab Island. He organized reenactor troops beside the nascent Battlefield Memorial Gateway Park in the Town of Plattsburgh. His vision brought this lakefront park to light in 2017 when he approached Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman with a concept to build a place that could bring generations together. The historic setting will honor veterans past and present. The date Sept. 11 connects centuries in America's fight for freedom. "Fifty American veterans were involved in the first 9/11," Rock said. Sept. 11, 2001, was a terrorist attack on American citizens and the Pentagon. LET FREEDOM RING Naval success in the Battle of Plattsburgh on Sept. 11 in 1814 effectively ended British hope to regain footing in the young United States. Resolve forged on Sept. 11 in 2001 changed the way Americans protect the freedoms they fought for over 200 years earlier. Reenactors portrayed early militiamen with Rock as Macdonough Jr. and Craig Russell as Alexander Macomb, who in 1814, was a field commander of the U.S. Army and soon after named major general. Tom Donahue, vice president of 1814 Commemoration Inc., placed a wreath to honor those fallen in attacks against American freedom on Sept. 11 in the 19th and 21st centuries. Donahue said Battle of Plattsburgh events that led up to Sept. 11 ceremonies were well received for hundreds who came to visit, young and old alike. The U.S. Navy Band Northeast won renown here and indicated that they will return to Plattsburgh. The date officially closed the 25th annual tribute to the region's rich history that established what become one of the nation's oldest military installations. The first forts, Fort Moreau, Fort Brown and Fort Scott, were built in 1814 before the Battle of Plattsburgh. Encampments solidified military presence here through the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and Desert Storm. Battlefield Memorial Gateway Park is being built to honor heroes past and present with its message: Let freedom ring.

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Remembering Sept. 11

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