The city of Springfield unveils a kisok after announcing “The 9/11 Memorial Plaza” inside Riverfront Park.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
SPRINGFIELD — Like many in attendance at Riverfront Park, Sept. 11, 2001, was a formative day for Colonel David Halasi-Kun.
The wing commander for the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base was 25 years old on that fateful day, brand new to the Air Force — and like everyone else at his base — unsure what he had to do.
But he knew he had to do something.
“In that moment for me, the line to get into the base quickly jumps, as I remember Sept. 11, to all of the emotion associated with that, to watching the tower fall, and then the next tower fall, and not knowing what’s next, and not knowing what my part will be in this new type of warfare that has essentially defined my 28-year career,” Halasi-Kun said.
A normal night features a sky full of airplanes, but when Halasi-Kun was tasked with patrolling the west coast skies the night of Sept. 11, it was eerily quiet; he could only see the other military planes patrolling the night sky.
No one else was flying that night throughout the country, and no one else would for two full days. Halasi-Kun felt a sea of emotions in those moments.
“Those emotions live with every service member from your Department of Defense, from your United States military; that deep sense of uncertainty and what is going to happen, and are they going to hit us again,” he said. “But your United States military recovered from all of that emotion. We took charge of that situation. We brought back the security that Americans expect and deserve.”
Security and unity were common themes throughout Springfield’s Sept. 11 ceremony, which was conducted at the city’s Sept. 11 monument inside Riverfront Park. The monument, dedicated to the city in 2019, features a vertical I-Beam from the World Trade Center and a curved bronze wall listing the names of the 498 first responders who lost their lives.
State Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) shared that Sept. 11, 2001 was the day he decided he would join the military. He memorialized the lost family members, fallen law enforcement and the 7,300 who have lost their lives during the war on terror.
He recalled the surreal feeling of being in Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2018 for a Sept. 11 commemorative ceremony, knowing that the heinous plan was hatched not too far from where he was standing.
Before ending his remarks, Velis stressed the unity people felt the day after Sept. 11 and posed the proverbial crossroads this country currently faces.
“We can go back to Sept. 10, 2001; we were all fighting, all at each other’s throats,” Velis said. “Or we could go back to Sept. 12, 2001. When it’s already been said, flags everywhere. People loving thy neighbor. Being able to talk, have disagreements without being disagreeable.”
Velis was joined by a plethora of other speakers at the monument, including Mayor Domenic Sarno, U.S. Rep Richard Neal (D-Springfield), Springfield Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers, Fire Commissioner B.J. Calvi and Patrick Leonardo, the regional director for American Medical Response.
Sarno honored those who sacrificed their lives on the day of the attacks, noting that when everybody was running away from the situation, the public safety officials were running “toward the situation” to save lives.
He also touched on the unity following the attacks and how every house had an American flag adorned in front.
“When tragedy occurs, the country of all creeds, colors and backgrounds pull together,” Sarno said. “We need that spirit to come together as one when times are okay and times are good.”
Neal remembered the visit he made to the Twin Towers site two days after the attacks. He recalled how smoke was still bellowing from the ground and how the buildings looked “twisted and dilapidated.”
Most of all, though, he remembered the families.
“What caught my attention more than anything else were the families that were there that day; those children,” Neal said. “And as they posted, at the time, letters on the wall, they were asking, if you see my dad, if you see my mom … we developed this great sense of national purpose.”
Akers thought about the sick feeling in his stomach he felt while watching the plane hit the first tower during a visit to a small restaurant in Indian Orchard. He honored the 72 members of law enforcement who lost their lives, underlining the mantra of “when others run out, we run in.”
“They held the line to the very end; 72 men and women who kissed their families goodbye that morning, not knowing it would be their last,” Akers said. “They wore the badge with honor, and in their final moments, they showed the world the very best that this profession represents.”
The night featured other ceremonial gestures following the speaking program, including the tolling of the fire bell and the laying of the wreath by Calvi, Akers, Leonardo and Halasi-Kun. At one point, emergency vehicles drove from the Memorial Bridge into Riverfront Park.
The ceremony also included a special announcement. In his remarks, Thomas Ashe — executive director of the Springfield Department of Parks, Buildings, and Recreation Management — announced that the site where the I-Beam sits is now named “The 9/11 Memorial Plaza.”
