TAMPA, Fla. — This year, the Patriot Day 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in Hillsborough County was especially meaningful for dozens of local students.
On the 23rd anniversary of the terror attacks, Hillsborough County organizers decided the best way to honor the past was to look toward the future, by inviting dozens of ROTC members and other students to this year’s service.
“Most of these kids, if not all of them, we're not even born on 9/11. So, we want them to gain that historical knowledge by actively participating in our event with our leaders behind them and supporting them and mentoring them,” said Hillsborough Consumer and Veteran Services Director Frank Strom.
Any one of a certain age remembers where they were on 9/11, but students at the memorial service like Katelyn Carroll and her classmates weren't even alive yet that day.
All they know, she says, is what they've either read or heard about from relatives and teachers.
“I think 9/11 is very important to remember. But I can't say that that's the same for everybody my age who might not care as much,” Carroll said. “Because they weren't there to see it.”
Some say the issue is that with time, the memories that are still so poignant for those who lived through 9/11 are fading for those too young to have experienced it firsthand.
“I feel like my generation doesn't really take it seriously. Too many lives were lost to not take it seriously,” said High School Junior Vincent Colpeck, “But I feel like in some cases, the blow has softened for them.
Clopeck says 9/11 changed his life since both of his parents, who were about his age on the day of the attacks, were then inspired to join the military. Now he feels that same sense of duty.
“I’m wanting to go to West Point myself, soon,” Colpeck said. “I‘ve started the application process.”
This likely will not be the last time you’ll see young faces in the crowd. Organizers of this year’s event say they are likely to make it a tradition now to invite young people from the area to take part in their local 9/11 ceremonies.
“I think about the people that we lost and what it is that we lost. And it does make me sad,” he said. “So, I do like to honor those from that day.”