By MONICA MARRONE
HOWELL – “If we all had it our way, we wouldn’t be here like this,” Howell Township Mayor Robert Walsh said to the crowd gathered in front of town hall on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.
Howell held a ceremony to honor the five lives it lost on that day exactly 10 years ago. The ceremony took place at 2 p.m. with Howell Township Police, Fire Department, officials, and residents in attendance.
All were invited to sit under a tent in the front of town hall with the fire department and police standing at attention on the right. With many residents showing their respect, people gathered around the outside of the tent.
The ceremony began with the presentation of the colors by the Howell Township Police Honor Guard. The flag was raised to full mast during the singing of the national anthem, and later lowered to half mast after the song ended.
Pastor Chris McCarrick of Cornerstone Calvary Chapel in Howell then led the residents of Howell in prayer, asking the nation to, “somehow bring peace in the midst of this storm.”
A representative of the New Jersey state government, Major Karl Kleeberg, presented a proclamation by Governor Chris Christie to the Township of Howell. The proclamation declared Sept. 11 as Patriot Day, to reflect on the freedom and bravery of the United States.
From there, State Sen. Bob Singer (R-Lakewood) spoke about what the day was to him. He shared that his oldest daughter was only half of a block away from the World Trade Center. When he found out she was safe he thought that his family would never again be in danger of terrorism.
Four years later, Singer’s daughter was seated on a bus only a few seats from a suicide bomber. His daughter survived, but many others did not. Singer said that he realized he and his family were not safe from terrorism.
State Sen. Sean Kean (R-Wall) similarly reflected on where he was the morning of Sept. 11, some 50 miles from where the planes hit. Kean said that hearing about the events on television all sounded like white noise to him.
State Assemblyman David Rible (R) commented on the fact that he could hear the Howell Pop Warner Football game while the ceremony started, and reflected on how innocently children played with their families watching, but some parents would never have that same opportunity to watch their children play again after the attacks of 9/11.
“There are heroes suffering still, keep them in your prayers,” Rible said.
Behind the tent the Sept. 11 Memorial of Howell stood. The township manager explained that the five arches served to recognize the five residents of Howell who lost their lives. The Howell Police left an arrangement of red, white and blue flowers on top of the memorial.
The service ended with the singing of God Bless America, and a procession to the memorial, where the Honor Guard ended saluting next to the memorial as the bag pipes and drums ceased. The Fire Department followed by citizens joined the procession to the memorial to close the ceremony.
As former Mayor Joseph DiBella said, “One can only hope that in the future children have to ask, ‘What is a terrorist?’”