WesternU Commemorates Sept. 11

The WesternU Military Medical Student Association and Student Government Association held a memorial service to honor those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and those who continue to fight for our freedom.

The ceremony, held Sept. 9, 2010, featured performances of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Taps,” prayers and poetry readings, and comments from the Pomona Police Department, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Dean Clint Adams, DO, and WesternU President Philip Pumerantz, PhD.

Pomona Police Sgt. Eddie Vazquez, a native New Yorker, said visiting Ground Zero in New York City was heart-wrenching. Military and public safety officers are considered heroes, but students studying to be health care professionals should also be included in that group, he said.

“To us in public safety, you’re just as much heroes,” Vazquez said. “We couldn’t do it without you.”

Sept. 11 raises many emotions, thoughts and questions.

“I think of our responsibility to heal a nation, to reduce levels of tension and strife,” Adams said.

George Washington once urged people to remember that one of our country’s founding principles is tolerance and acceptance, he said.

“Today is a time to think. Nine years have passed,” Adams said. “How far have we come? How much farther do we have to travel?”