By Heather Michon
Correspondent
Over 70 Fluvanna residents gathered at the Lake Monticello firehouse on Thursday evening (Sept. 11) for the annual program honoring the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
“With the passage of time, it seems people’s memories have diminished and the passion for remembrance has faded,” said Chief Richard Constantino, who hosts the ceremony each year. “That is why ceremonies such as this are so important, to keep their sacrifices alive and pray for those who are still suffering.”
Among the speakers this year was David Small, a teacher at Fluvanna County High School.
Small told the audience that he and other teachers had spent part of their classes talking with their students – all born years after the attacks – about what had happened on that day.
He said he had spent a lot of time thinking about what to say. “I carry a lot of responsibility, and one of the things is…I don’t want to steal their innocence too soon.”
He said his students, all between 15 and 18 years old, listened quietly to his stories, “and I will tell you, their eyes were wide.”
The garden next to the firehouse has a small memorial with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. As has become the custom, local first responder Shawn Rigsby laid a wreath at the base of the memorial.
Rigsby’s son, Dakota, was a former Fluvanna County first responder who was killed in a collision in the Sea of Japan while serving on the USS Fitzgerald in June 2017.
A total of 2,996 people were killed in the attacks of Sept. 11. Over the past 24 years, an estimated 50,000 people have been living with respiratory illnesses and cancers, and another 4,200 have died from toxic exposure to the debris created by the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon.
