CHESAPEAKE, Va.- September 11, 2017, marks 16 years since the attacks that took nearly three thousand American lives.
Sixteen years later, the Hampton Roads community still promising to never forget.
“This is a day so we never forget what happened on 9/11," said one attendee of Chesapeake's remembrance ceremony.
As if no time has passed between now and that tragic day, the community here in Chesapeake gathers together on the morning of the anniversary to pay their respects at the Chesapeake 9/11 memorial.
“Over that period of 16 years, anybody under the age of 25 has almost no memory of it, so that’s why these events are so important to bring it back to the forefront of people’s minds. This is why we are still doing what we are doing sixteen years later.”
Even after the bells quit ringing and people are no longer gathered together in prayer, the Chesapeake memorial sits quietly in the Chesapeake city park 365 days a year.
“[I] think it was first grade I was on the bus on Tinker Air Force Base Oklahoma. The bus driver was yelling at my mom when I got on, "Turn on the TV! Turn on the TV! The twin towers have been hit,” said 20-year-old Brandyn Babman.
Babman and his friends got together to play a game of basketball on the same court in the same park as the memorial. They carry on their day like they do every Monday, but with more purpose.
“We remember what happened, but you know be with friends, be with family. Be with the ones you still have. It’s nice, you know, to hang out with friends,” he said.
