MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Roy Sexton was with President George W. Bush when the attacks by the extremist group al-Qaida on U.S. landmarks unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001.
The U.S. Navy veteran and retired U.S. Secret Service agent led the advance team on Bush’s visit to a Sarasota, Florida, elementary school on Sept. 11, 2001. As the president read to the children, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and Sexton were learning of the attacks by the extremist group al-Qaida on U.S. landmarks.
“On this day (Sept. 11), let’s remember the real heroes — the men and women who ran into the buildings, and the men and women, who, as a result of this day, signed up for the military and went over and paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Sexton, who is now vice president and director of security at Alabama Power, wrapping up his remarks to the audience attending the 11th annual 9/11 Remembrance in the Miller Education Center on Bell Street on Thursday, Sept. 11.
“Let’s always keep them in our prayers. Let’s always remember them,” he added.
The nearly 30-minute ceremony featured Army and Air Force ROTC cadets reading timeline events from the attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. The event is coordinated by the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.
Watch the entire ceremony below.
“A military aide told me the Pentagon had been hit, and I thought, ‘This is national. We don’t know where the next (attack) will be coming from,’” said Sexton, whose team safely returned the president to Washington after flying to Louisiana and Nebraska.
One of four cadets who read the timeline, De’Twan Hayes, 23, a senior aerospace technology major from Memphis, said remembering what happened on 9/11 means “honoring the history and establishing some ground in honoring those who came before me.”
For cadet Marshall Graves, 22, an aerospace professional pilot major from Knoxville, it was his second year to read the time, “and it was an honor to do that.”
The ceremony marked the fourth time for cadet Lancy Fripp, 21, of Ellaville, Georgia, to attend and first time to be a part of reading the timeline.
Keith M. Huber, MTSU senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, said it was “a ceremony for all of us to remember. People were willing to die for people they didn’t know. We should see this as a focus on serving others. And there are evil people in the world who want to deprive us of our freedoms.”
MTSU Recording Industry adjunct professor and veteran Jamie Teachenor sang the national anthem. He wrote the U.S. Space Force anthem in 2022.
Michael Swaenepoel, an MTSU graduate student, ended the ceremony by performing taps.
Joining President Sidney A. McPhee and Provost Mark Byrnes at the early morning ceremony were veterans, police officers, members of the MTSU women’s tennis team and other students, alumni and other invited guests.
About the Daniels Center
The 3,200-square-foot Daniels Center, located in Keathley University Center Rooms 124 and 316 in the heart of campus, assists approximately 1,100 student veterans and family members annually. It is the largest and most comprehensive veterans center on any Tennessee higher education campus.
The Daniels Center’s mission is to provide transition services for veterans and their families as they return to civilian life after military service.
For more information about the Daniels Center, visit https://www.mtsu.edu/military/ or call 615-904-8347.
— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)
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