The student cadet-led prayer, moment of silence and 9/11 memorial speech, the guest speakers’ remarks, playing of “Taps” and three students’ remembrances of where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, were moving tributes as MTSU held its third 9/11 Observance.

MTSU’s community paused Monday, Sept. 11, to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the day when a coordinated series of four terrorist suicide attacks by the Islamic group al-Qaida on U.S. landmarks took place.

The observance was held on a cool, overcast day at the MTSU Military Memorial site outside the Tom H. Jackson Building. Students, staff, alumni and others attended the solemn service to recall the thousands of innocent victims who died or were injured that day.

“It was very moving and very fitting of the men and women who have chosen to serve our country because of the events of 9/11,” Many-Bears Grinder, Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs commissioner, said of the ceremony.

University President Sidney A. McPhee, Gold Star mother Tammy Bass of Nashville and Keith M. Huber, senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives at MTSU and retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, were speakers.

An MTSU alumnus with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, David Bass, Tammy Bass’s eldest son, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003. He was killed in action in 2006 at age 20.

“I very quickly realized we were at war and it was going to impact my family,” Tammy Bass said of her thoughts on Sept. 11, 2001, recalling her son’s teenage desire to want to join the military.

The beacon for her through the years of her loss, she said, has been “people coming together, praying, going to church, reaching out to neighbors to become a closer community, and men and women lining up at recruiting offices to be a part of defending our country.”

Gold Star mother Tammy Bass, left, and Many-Bears Grinder, Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs commissioner, laugh with and hug each other during the MTSU 9/11 Observance at the Military Memorial site Sept. 11. They are standing near where a Gold Star Family brick for Bass has been placed. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Bass drew a standing ovation after her speech. Her plans for the rest of the day included helping the USO Nashville, for which she has worked the past four years, and FiftyFoward, an organization supporting those 50 and older, in collecting donations at three Kroger stores for the Nashville and Fort Campbell USOs.

“The freedoms we enjoy are freedoms that are not free,” McPhee told the audience.”They are paid and continue to be paid by the service and sacrifice of those who wear military uniforms. Sadly for many, it is too easy to forget we are at war with those who want to destroy that which we hold dear.”

“This is why the university is so committed to those many servicemen and women” who have served our country, the president added.

MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center in the Keathley University Center serves a combined 900-plus student veterans and their family members.

An emotional McPhee praised military science ROTC cadet Antonio Hiles for remembering victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose in his prayer, noting that the comments were “personal to me because I have parents and family members in both the Bahamas and Florida.”

Student veterans and MTSU cadets Christopher Hilton, left, Sydney Moskovitz and Amber Cetinel discuss where they were Sept. 11, 2001, and how it affected their lives during the university’s 2017 9/11 Remembrance Sept. 11 at the Military Memorial site. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Just before Huber’s remarks concluded the observance, MTSU cadets Christopher Hilton, Sydney Moskovitz and Amber Cetinel recalled “where we were 9/11 and how it impacted our lives,” Moskovitz said. The tragedy led them and many more to join the military just as David Bass wanted to do while at Overton High School.

Huber thanked Grinder; Jennifer Vedral-Baron, health system director for the Department of Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System; Suzanne Jené, deputy health system director for the VA’s Tennessee Valley Healthcare System; and others for attending. He also began a new tradition with the unveiling of a Gold Star Family brick for Tammy Bass. It has been placed at the memorial site.

“Thank you for your courage and your work,” Huber said to her. He later reflected on his time in the military during and after the Sept. 11 attacks and “the courage of those who move into areas of danger and death” while serving their country.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Keith M. Huber, senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives at MTSU and retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, recalls where he was Sept. 11, 2001, and how it affected the latter years of his military career before retiring. He shared this during the MTSU 9/11 Remembrance at the Military Memorial site in September 2017 outside the Tom H. Jackson Building. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Joe Gross performs “Taps” during the third annual MTSU 9/11 Observance outside the Tom H. Jackson Building Sept. 11. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

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MTSU plans 9/11 Observance with special ceremony Monday

The public is invited to join the MTSU community for the university’s third 9/11 Observance at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 11, at the Veterans Memorial site outside the Tom H. Jackson Building, 628 Alma Mater Drive.

Sidney A. McPhee

Keith M. Huber

Tammy Bass

Led by cadets in the program, MTSU’s Department of Military Science will conduct the event to commemorate the 16th anniversary of a series of four coordinated terrorist suicide attacks conducted Sept. 11, 2001, by the Islamic group al-Qaida on U.S. landmarks.

To find parking for the event, visit http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

In the event of rain or inclement weather, the event will move into Cantrell Hall in the Tom H. Jackson Building.

Guest speakers will include:

• Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, the 10th MTSU president, who assumed leadership in 2001.
• Tammy Bass, a Gold Star mother. Her son, U.S. Army Cpl. David Bass, was killed in action.
• Keith M. Huber, senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives at the MTSU. Huber, who joined MTSU in January 2015, spent nearly 40 years in the military, retiring as a U.S. Army lieutenant general.

To learn more about the Veterans Memorial, visit http://mtsu.edu/military/memorial. Military Science is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments. To learn more, visit http://mtsu.edu/arotc1.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)