WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — A Dayton-area Air Force veteran launched a 9/11 remembrance event he hopes to make an annual event.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
John Matecki led a group on a three-mile hike from one Washington Township fire station to another.
“I want to make sure I am not one of those folks that forgets we promised we would never forget,” Matecki said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- 2 in custody after 73-year-old woman robbed and dragged in Dayton
- Video shows an Ohio woman accused of killing and eating a cat; she’s not an immigrant
- Residents speak up at city meeting as Springfield referenced nationally, during presidential debate
Matecki served 20 years in the Air Force. He was active duty on September 11, 2001 and was ordered to turn on the TV at his duty station and couldn’t belive what he was watching.
“There are a big population that wasn’t even born or is too young to remember,” Matecki said.
Matecki joined a small group of service members, first responders and family members to try to remind everyone of what happened 23 years ago. A brief reminder of the lives lost that day and in the military actions that followed was then followed by a moment of silence.
The group then put on their bags, raised their flags and began their walk.
A group together in determination, reminding people not just of September 11 but September 12, 2001.
“9/12 was an amazing day because as a country, there was no politics, there was no divide. We were one nation and we were all unified, everyone was helping each other out,” Matecki said. “We need to make sure not only do we remember the events that happened 23 years ago but we also need to remember where we were, post 9/11 and never forget that.”
Three miles, step after step along a sidewalk, took the group a good hour.
Matecki said it’s nothing in comparison to the horror and deaths experienced by civilians in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, plus the ultimate sacrifice made by first responders and military members post 9/11.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
