COLUMBUS, Ohio — Volunteers and elected officials gathered Thursday to place 2,977 flags on the Ohio Statehouse lawn in memorial for those who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks 20 years ago.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also made it clear that it was to honor the current members of the military, calling attention to the recent death of Ohio Navy Corpsman Max Soviak, 22, in the Aug. 26 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
“He was just a toddler at the time of 9/11,” DeWine said.
Many of the Ohioans who lost their lives in the wars were young, including Soviak, and their lives had just begun, he said.
“These service members represented the many faces of Ohio,” DeWine said. “Some came from the smallest villages in our state. Some from the larger cities. Some came from our farms.”
Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley and Columbus Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ delivered remarks on the Statehouse steps during the event, which was organized by the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.
A group of Columbus Fire recruits were among the volunteers who placed the flags, each two feet apart, on the Statehouse lawn ahead of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
Kennedy Jackson, a Class 113 recruit with the Columbus Fire Department, said the heroism of first responders on 9/11 inspires her to be a firefighter.
“It’s a major motivator for me joining the profession,” she said. “It’s one of the reasons that we get out of bed every morning and come and train hard. That bravery — we’re here to honor and respect it, and we want to be a part of it.”
Jackson said coming together as a community Thursday to place the flags was a powerful experience.
“Being able to come here and honor our prior service members and be a part of something so big is borderline emotional,” she said.
LaRose, who served in Iraq with the U.S. Special Forces, said he remains troubled and confused to this day by the notion that a group would want to carry out such an evil act against the U.S.
“It has something to do with them hating the same things that we love,” he said. “That idea of human freedom is the same thing that our enemies hate, and, you know what, they still hate it today… In places like Iran and North Korea and China and Russia and too many more to mention, people are busy teaching their children right now to hate America.”
Crawley, a Navy veteran, said the 20th anniversary is a time to remember the bravery of first responders and service members, like Soviak, who faced great danger to help others.
She also acknowledged the Afghan people who aided U.S. troops, including her brother who just retired from the army. Crawley reiterated that Franklin County will be a welcoming place for Afghan refugees.
When the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, DeWine said he was in the Russell Senate Building and recalled fleeing the area with his staff, concerned that the Capitol was the next target.
The governor said the U.S. needed to take action to prevent future attacks, and he thanked the Ohioans who went Iraq and Afghanistan for their service.
“The fact that we have been safe for 20 years in the United States is a direct result of what they did,” he said.
After about an hour placing the flags, Jackson said the volunteers were nearing the end.
“As we go line by line to place these flags, we’re having conversations with our community members about what a powerful experience this is and how great it is to see everyone come out and be a part of this,” she said.
