As the nation pauses to remember those who served this Veterans Day, many Juneauites may visit the 9\/11 memorial in Riverside Rotary Park to reflect on the event that led to the war in Afghanistan and produced a new generation of veterans.<\/p>\n
The memorial, unveiled one year after the attack, was among the first in the nation.<\/p>\n
Twenty years ago, Juneau resident Debbie Penrose-Fischer and her husband, Brent Fischer, harnessed their grief in the face of the national tragedy to become the driving force behind the creation of the memorial.<\/p>\n
“There are markers and age brackets in all our lives and those events capture a moment in time, things like births and weddings,” Penrose-Fischer told the Empire in a September phone interview. “For me, 9\/11 was that way. I remember exactly where I was and what I saw. I remember the shock that I felt. I was up early that day and I saw the second plane hit.”<\/p>\n
She said that in the days that followed the event, the feeling of national unity touched her.<\/p>\n
She recalled watching members of Congress sit together on the steps of the Capitol building and sing “God Bless America.” She described a landscape awash in American flags.<\/p>\n
“The patriotism felt very different and amazing in the middle of such a tragedy,” she said.<\/p>\n
While watching news coverage, Penrose-Fischer saw people in different cities around the country gathering in public locations to light candles and grieve together.<\/p>\n
“I kept bugging my husband about where to put flowers. I told him we need a place where people can express grief,” she said.<\/p>\n