One by one, Elevate Academy students crossed the stage at Caldwell’s Indian Creek Plaza, each flanked by a first responder or soldier.
They stopped at center stage to read the names of Idahoans who died while serving in the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people.
“United States Army reserve Coby Schwab, 25, Hayden Lake. Never forget.”
Then a bell rang.
“Army specialist Robert E. Dyas, 21, Nampa. Never forget.”
A bell rang again.
Quietly, hundreds of students, parents and community members sat and listened.
“It’s kind of tough because we go through it, we practice it, and it doesn’t feel as real,” said Sierra Shippy, an Elevate Academy senior and master of ceremonies for the memorial. “But sitting there and actually hearing the bell ring, it’s just — I don’t know. It’s just so, not disheartening, but in a way it is because those are lives. It’s just so hard to think about how many people we lost.”
After students read the names, former New York policeman Brian Bartley told his story.
“As we were sitting in a class lecture at police academy, my classmates and I heard the roar of a jet engine fly overhead,” Bartley recounted. “This was unusual as Manhattan is a no-fly zone.”
He and his fellow rookies found it odd, but thought little of it. They didn’t know the plane was bound for the World Trade Center. Fifteen minutes later, Bartley said, a lieutenant walked into the classroom and told them what happened.
Not yet a sworn officer, he would spend the next several days directing traffic and working security around the perimeter of the World Trade Center’s rubble.
Bartley went on to serve 20 years in the NYPD. He now drives a school bus in Caldwell for Brown Bus Company. He never spoke publicly about his experience until around five years ago, when he started speaking at Elevate Academy’s 9/11 memorial.
“It’s therapeutic,” he said. “It definitely helps, and it’s more important that it helps remind people about what we’ve lost, what we went through, and teach the next generation so that they know why it’s important, why it’s not just a date on the calendar.”
Here are some photos of Friday’s event:
