College commemoration offers lessons of 9/11

Josh McKinsey stood in the entryway to the Irvine Valley College Performing Arts Center with his eyes fixed on 13-year-old television footage from Sept. 11, 2001.

The 23-year-old student watched as two Boeing 767s slammed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.

Two other planes would crash that day — one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and another into a field in Pennsylvania.

The most deadly terrorist attacks ever against the United States cumulatively killed nearly 3,000 people.

It was the same footage he had first watched in his fourth-grade class in 2001.

“It’s been 13 years since I’ve watched this,” he said Thursday. “I didn’t really understand what it all meant at the time.”

As years passed, McKinsey learned more about the attacks. They eventually motivated him to enlist in the Marine Corps when he turned 18.

“This anger just started to burn deep inside of me,” he said. “Ask anyone who’s enlisted recently and they’ll tell you this event impacted their decision to go in.”

Representatives of the Irvine Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Sheriff’s Department set up at Irvine Valley for the college’s Sept. 11 commemoration.

The college hosts the ceremony each year to remind students and community members of the significance of that day. It’s also an opportunity to pay tribute to local emergency first responders, said college President Glenn Roquemore.

Like many American adults, Roquemore can recall what he was doing when he learned of the attacks.

“Everyone realized that life as we knew it had changed,” he said.

Students, administrators and police officers gathered on the field outside the Performing Arts Center just after 11 a.m. to watch a Sheriff’s Department helicopter land on the grass. Onlookers took turns climbing aboard the aircraft for a quick look.

Others inspected bomb-squad suits and military artillery set up on a table.

Visitors paused inside the building to watch news footage and to look through photos that chronicled the attacks and the aftermath.

Years ago, Roquemore came across a group of students who couldn’t recall the significance of 9/11. It reminded him of the importance of events like the college’s remembrance day, he said.

“I have to remember that the amount of time that’s passed is starting to dip into the younger generation’s memory,” he said. “We need to recognize that the work that goes on here is what keeps us free.”