RAMON ALVARADO

Monday marked the 16 year anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Rio Hondo held a memorial in the lower quad to remember all the lives we lost on that horrific day.

Clouds casted over the sun, setting the vibe for the 9/11 Memorial at Rio Hondo. The event kicked off with student singing the National Anthem, then Robert Diaz, an Instructional Assistant in the LAC at Rio, coordinated the event.

School President Teresa Dreyfuss was first to speak to students, staff, veterans, and the Rio Hondo Police Academy Cadets who were present.

“Today we gather to remember those we lost 16 years ago on September 11 in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.,” President Dreyfuss said. “We gather here to remember the first responders and the volunteers who lost their lives rescuing those in danger.”

Former U.S. service members who now attend Rio Hondo spoke about where they were when the disasters unfolded on that early morning in New York, most being around 10-12 years old when it happened.

Things got really emotional in the lower quad when U.S. Navy member Dominic Lopez got up to speak. He spoke about how he found out about the attack on the World Trade Center.

“I was a young boy, 18, Montebello High… went to Missouri for training… I remember being on dozer phase, starting up our dozers,” Lopez said, as he looked up, recollecting his memories. “[I’m] getting ready, then all of a sudden our instructor tells us to shut everything down… We stood there quietly, and all of sudden [our instructor] pulled up in a little, small, beat-up, little bucket Geo… He pulled up and opened all the doors and turned on the radio… We’re just sitting there quietly, listening to descriptions about smoke, glass, and screaming… but we have yet to know what’s going on, and I remember, finally, they said that the U.S. is under attack.”

Lopez then spoke on his love for his country: “I just love this country,” assured Lopez. “Even on its worse days, this is still the greatest country. Even with everything, with the climate, everything we’re going through, people are still coming here.”

The 9/11 Memorial Monday morning reminded us that, while it was a horrific incident, the only thing those terrorist attacks did was make the U.S. stronger.

“I think the one thing we can takeaway is, just like Isoroku Yaramoto said in World War II, I think [the attacks] ‘awoken a sleeping giant’,“ Lopez said. “…and that’s all [9/11] really did, was make us stronger and more united.”