[media-credit id=2148 align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]By Olivia Higgins & Jennie Torres

It was on a seemingly normal Tuesday morning in New York City when  the world would forever be impacted by the World Trade Center terrorists attacks. It has been 16 years since that infamous event on Sept. 11, 2001, and people all over the world still take the time to honor those whose lives were greatly affected or lost on that day.

At 8:55 a.m., there was silence amongst the crowd, as the American flag was risen and then lowered down. It lasted for over a minute with only the bell from the Arnold Bernhard Library; its powerful yet gentle-like ring echoed throughout Mount Carmel campus.

It was then followed by a moment of silence to commemorate the somber day.

Jordan Atchley, president of the Student Veteran Organization (SVO) stood alongside a senior member of Quinnipiac’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, raised the flag and then lowered it to half mast to honor the day of remembrance.

“In the military, it is customary that when a flag is being raised or folded, whoever is there in uniform salutes the flag until it is raised the position it’s supposed to be in or it’s completely folded,” Atchley said

Many members of the SVO had strong feelings during the ceremony as the events that occurred on September 11 were their reason for joining the military, according to Atchley

As President of the SVO, Atchley feels that the Quinnipiac community not only does well commemorating 9/11, but also recognizes student veterans dedicated service to the United States of America through honor and respect.

“I think that it’s important that we not only remember the lives that were lost on September the 11th, but we remember the first responders and everyone who ran in that day that helped save people,” Atchley said. “As well as the men and women who signed up [to serve the military as a result of] that day…that we remember all of those that were lost or all th ose who gave up part of their lives to go off and fight so that would never happen again.”

Junior John Welsh says it is good that we remember what happened, but for the right reasons.

“We remember that we are not invincible people, we remember that the world isn’t always as optimistic as we’d like,” Welsh said. “We shouldn’t remember to hold grudges against the ethnic or national brethren of those who did attack, but to show that any action we take is done with the full knowledge of what happened in mind.”

September 11th is not just a military-oriented day of remembrance, it’s something that affected a lot more civilians than did military personnel, according to Atchley.

“Today with the flag raising, we didn’t want to wear uniforms…September the 11th is definitely a big day for us,” Atchley said. “But it’s a somber day more than anything else. We reflect on all the people lost that day and what that [event] subsequently caused and friends that we’ve had that didn’t come home… we think about all that stuff today and on days like it.”