Clarke Central High School JROTC cadets pose during the 2018 annual 9/11 ceremony on Sept. 11, 2018. The CCHS JROTC program hosts this event in remembrance of those who died during the twin tower attacks in 2001. “I hope that we can use it as an opportunity to continue to try to stand together as a nation, Black, White, Hispanic (and) other nationalities,” McMickle said. Photo by Ana Aldridge
Clarke Central High School’s JROTC program will host its annual ceremony on Sept. 11 to recognize the tragic events of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The Clarke Central High School JROTC program will acknowledge those who died during the events of the 9/11 bombing in 2001 through their annual 9/11 ceremony on Sept. 11 outside the ceremonial entrance.
“(The ceremony) is an annual observant to stop long enough and pause to commemorate, acknowledge and memorialize or have a memory of the people that lost their lives on 9/11,” Lieutenant Colonel McMickle said.
According to McMickle, the ceremony is orchestrated by the students who participate in the JROTC program. During the ceremony, there will be a narrated formation organized by students of the program.
“Everyone that’s (participating in the ceremony) forms into a big battalion, and they march to the front of the school, and then we raise the flag while everyone in JROTC salutes,” CCHS JROTC Private Henry Kurtz, a sophomore said.
Leading up to the CCHS ceremonial entrance, where the ceremony will be held, there will be a roadblock by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Athens-Clarke County Fire Department.
“The (Athens- Clarke County Fire Department) has a ladder truck, 343, which is the number of first-responders that died that day in the Twin Towers attacks,” McMickle said.
First Sgt. Antione Clarke states that the 9/11 ceremony is the program’s way of remembering the attacks.
“9/11 is this generation’s Pearl Harbor. We have to reflect on the tragic events of that day or people are just going to forget about it,” Clarke said. “People want to just forget about this, so it’s our way of keeping that observance relevant to today’s generation.”
The JROTC program hopes that this celebration will help students understand the effects of 9/11.
“I hope it will engage (the student body’s) minds to think about what happened on Sept. 11. (I hope they will) do some research so to speak,” McMickle said. “(I hope they will) look at the Twin Towers as they were burning to see that somebody attacked our democracy for who we are and what we do.”
