Walk Honors Memory of September 11

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Nine years ago on September 11, Linda Stanier didn’t work at the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance. She worked at a public relations firm in New York City.

She heard news reports of an airplane hitting the first tower at the World Trade Center and, thinking it had been a horrible accident, she hopped on the bus to go to work in her office next to the 59th Street Bridge.

Someone on the bus said the crash was a terrorist attack.

“When I realized what was happening, I still remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was panic-stricken,” Stanier says.

Many of her staff and friends, people who came into the city from Brooklyn and New Jersey, commuted through the Metro tunnels underneath the WTC. She tried to call them, but calls weren’t going through. “I couldn’t even call across the street,” she remembers.

“It was the most frightening day of my life… people were walking across the [59th Street] bridge to get home, and they were covered in ash. They were gray people. The sirens didn’t stop.

“The cloud of dust was just incredible. The surrealness of it, I’ll never forget. It wasn’t just about New York, either – everyone shared in that day.”

The September 11 attacks are commemorated each year in events across the country, including the 9/11 Remembrance and Freedom Walk in Williamsburg hosted by the Alliance and Colonial Williamsburg.

It’s an event Stanier attends each year, a time when she reflects on her experiences – and her county’s experience – on that day nine years ago.

The event begins at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, September 10, at Merchants Square.

Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums, a Joint Color Guard, 1st Responder Colors, Military/1st Responder senior officials and the Boy Scouts will walk from Merchants Square to the Courthouse on Duke of Gloucester Street.

At 6 p.m., John Garay of the Alliance Armed Forces Committee offers introductions. Sgt. Terry Harper will then sing the national anthem, and Lt. Cmdr. Karl A. Lindblad, chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, will give the invocation.

Clyde Haulman, mayor of the City of Williamsburg, will welcome officials and guests. Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums will perform and patriot printer Alexander Purdie, portrayed by Nation Builder Dennis Watson, will offer remarks. The program will close with the singing of “God Bless America.”

The event is attended by hundreds of people each year, Stanier estimates, and often visitors to Colonial Williamsburg will see the walk begin and stop what they’re doing to participate. “There’s a real sense of camaraderie and support.”

“It’s important to remember the men and women who went up those steps [in the towers] to save lives,” as well as the others who lost their lives that day, Stanier believes.

Guests are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair to the event.