Editor’s note: On Sept. 11, 2002, the University community, the Eugene-Springfield community and the nation as a whole gathered in different ways to commemorate the attacks of one year earlier. Many gatherings were held in our area in parks, public spaces, churches and homes. Here is a small sampling of the events.

University of Oregon
The University held a Campus Remembrance Program at the EMU Amphitheater on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks to commemorate those who died on Sept. 11 and to share experiences as a community.
The event sounded off with the ringing of carillon music. A short program commenced with speakers, including University President Dave Frohnmayer and ASUO President Rachel Pilliod.
The enormous flagpole standing near the EMU Amphitheater hung at half mast, and a crowd of about 300 attended.
“As we gather here today, we will be able to focus on the changes that occurred,” Pilliod said. “Let us serve our peers, family and community by striving to educate ourselves and others.”
Eugene Fire & EMS Department District Chief Taylor Robertson also stood by for the ceremony in full uniform.
“We’re mostly here to support this occasion and to let people know that we care about them — the people that we serve,” said Robertson, who heads District 1, which includes the University.
Many of the speakers expressed hope for the future, conveying the kind of caring and optimism of which Robertson spoke.
“The theme for the ceremony (was) to focus on the good that has come out of Sept. 11,” Pilliod said.
“I think that it’s important for students, as it reflects our ability to build on the lessons that we have learned from the tragedy, and to focus (students) toward breaking down the barriers and perceived differences among us,” she said.
Sept. 11 is a day that will forever mark calendars, and speakers noted the significance the event had for many people.
“We did not ask for this anniversary,” Frohnmayer said. “Yet I’m sure that each and every one of us remembers where we were and what we were doing a year ago.”
Frohnmayer also listed some of the possible good that came of the terrorist attacks, saying that a positive outlook is a way of creating joy and understanding out of tragedy.
“This is one of the times when we can say that what a University does is particularly important,” he said, “because what we try to do is understand ourselves and others.”

— Jillian Daley

Eugene-Springfield

The cities of Eugene and Springfield made their own attempt Sept. 11 to commemorate the calamity that struck the world on that Tuesday in 2001.
At 6:45 p.m., approximately 350 people filed into Springfield’s Island Park, not just to remember what happened last year, but also to begin to forget it.
Candlelight vigils, speeches, prayers and tears were all a part of the process for firefighters, police officers, public officials, Boy Scouts and area residents who needed to commemorate and begin the closure process on this tragic event.
“The time to mourn the events of last year has passed, it is time to
rebuild,” Eugene Fire Chief Tom Tallon said.
University President Dave Frohnmayer suggested that to seek closure, community members must rely on each other.
“Some have accused us of taking part in an orgy of competitive sorrow,” he said. But “we need our community to take refuge in.”
The event began with speeches from various guests and featured a moment of silence at 7:45 p.m.
At 7:52 p.m., Springfield Fire Chief Dennis Murphy introduced the ringing of the fire bell. It was rung 25 times to honor the firefighters’ lives lost in New York.
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey explained his observations of the community’s reaction of the past year.
“Each of us during this past year have found hope and healing in our faith, family, and friends.”
For some attendees, last year’s events could have a positive outcome, with work from everyone.
“I want to tell everyone to never forget how special our freedom is, and that God allowed this to happen to increase people’s humanity,” LCC student Angela Grabow said.
Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken suggested that a loving world is a safer world.
“Lasting homeland security begins and ends, my friends, with love,” he said.
While many thought it was time to move on, Lane County Commissioner Bill Dwyer doesn’t believe the tragedy will ever vanish from memory.
“We will never forget them. We will never abandon the American we love.”

— Jenni Schultz

Commemorating peace
Dozens of people spent Sept. 11 away from their televisions, apart from the flag-waving and official ceremonies commemorating the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.
Instead, they stood in front of the federal courthouse at Seventh Avenue and Pearl Street and held handmade signs, talked quietly among themselves or spent hours in prayer and meditation.
“I disagree with our government’s war policies,” said Sarah Charlesworth, a member of the Green Party of Lane County and one of the event’s organizers. “Being out in public and communicating with fellow activists who love peace and justice helps people to think.”
People at the 24-hour protest didn’t all share the same viewpoint. Some held signs with anarchists symbols. Others showed pictures of fallen firefighters from Sept. 11 and said they wanted to end terrorist activities without the bloodshed that had been wrought in Afghanistan.
The event was organized by several groups with a University presence, including the Justice Not War Coalition and Eugene Peaceworks, and organizers estimated that several hundred people came to participate or watch the protest as it unfolded over the day.
Some attendees came from overseas. Reinhard Seyer of Austria and Klara Solk of Sweden were passing by the courthouse and stopped to munch the free food offered by the protesters.
“Anything to support a movement that tries to end the cycle of violence that we’ve witnessed since Sept. 11 is good,” Seyer said.
Many participants would not give their names or be quoted, for fear of what they called “government retribution.” John, 82, declined to give his last name, saying he did not want to be on Attorney General John “Ashcroft’s list”.
“I think we should have a visible presence here and not let George Bush and his accomplices start another war,” he said. “But we also need to respect the people who lost their lives a year ago.”

— Brook Reinhard