Remembering and recovering
Grosse Pointe War Memorial hosts Sept. 11 service
As a facility that pays tribute to those who’ve sacrificed their lives for this country, it’s fitting that the Grosse Pointe War Memorial will conduct a service on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Starting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 on the War Memorial grounds in Grosse Pointe Farms, the candlelight service will include music by the band Work in Progress, a U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard and remarks in honor of those whose lives were claimed by the attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Becky Johnson, administrative assistant to War Memorial President Mark Weber, said the Rev. Eddie Bray of Grosse Pointe United Church will deliver an invocation as part of the service. Other clergy, and mayors from the Pointes and Harper Woods, have been invited to take part as well, she said.
The program, which Johnson said was put together by the entire War Memorial staff, is expected to last approximately 40 minutes.
The War Memorial, which hosted a ceremony last year after the attacks and recently housed a national touring Sept. 11 photo exhibit, is an appropriate site for such an event, Weber said.
“We feel compelled as a memorial to make sure people remember their freedoms and liberties, and we want to make sure people don’t forget that,” Weber said.
He hopes attendees will “take a moment to remember how fortunate we are, and that we should appreciate those who gave their lives” for their country, including civilians.
Former War Memorial board member Lynne DeGrande Hackathorn of Grosse Pointe Woods knows first-hand about the devastation wrought by the Sept. 11 attacks. A clinical social worker who works locally as a mental health consultant and counselor, Hackathorn traveled to New York City last year to assist those who had lost loved ones.
“As we have heard everyone say again and again, the magnitude of it is almost beyond your ability to comprehend it until you get there and you feel it and you see it,” Hackathorn said. “It’s just all-consuming. And because of that, the recovery and the healing that needs to happen — and is happening — is a much greater challenge. But, it will happen, because the human spirit is much stronger that any of us realize until we’re tested.”
Hackathorn, who has also done crisis counseling for families of Gulf War and plane crash victims, will return to New York this month to offer comfort and counseling on the first anniversary of the attacks. She said local efforts such as the War Memorial ceremony help in the recovery, because victims “will also know and feel and remember the caring and support from across the country.”
Work in Progress guitarist and vocalist Charlie Tazzia of Grosse Pointe Farms said his group is honored to be performing at the event. The band’s set will include patriotic and other appropriate songs to set a tone, he said.
“And it’s fitting, because music takes people emotionally to places they can’t go otherwise,” Tazzia said. “So, we’re hoping to provide that for people.”
War Memorial officials, who’ve contacted churches and area school and governmental officials, say they believe this service is the only one of its kind in the Pointes and Harper Woods. It coincides with the U.S. Senate’s designation of Sept. 11-17 as National Civic Participation week, and War Memorial personnel hope to make this an annual remembrance, Weber said.
Although he said the War Memorial will purchase some candles for the service, attendees are encouraged to bring their own, along with blankets or lawn chairs. The event will take place on the lawn, unless inclement weather forces it indoors.
For more information, call the Grosse Pointe
War Memorial at (313) 881-7511.
You can reach K. Michelle Moran at
kmoran@candgnews.com