9/11 anniversary events acknowledge sacrifice, survival

Students and employees planted flags, wrote thank-you notes to veterans and first responders, made paper cranes and more during a day of service to remember the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Stopping by the Bush Campus Center on Monday to plant flags were students Steven M. Gautsch, aviation maintenance technology, and Ryan Fizer, emergency management & homeland security.

Both grew up in northern New Jersey, where despite being born after the tragedy, they are well aware of the effects of the nearby World Trade Center collapse. Fizer’s grandfather, a part of the National Guard, reported to the site the day after to provide service, and his father, a volunteer firefighter, mourned the loss of fellow first responders. Gautsch’s mother and father worked outdoors – in landscaping – and saw the twin towers burning.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center – once an iconic part of the Manhattan skyline – were destroyed before Gautsch was born, and he wishes he could have seen them in person but noted their enduring presence in photos and on TV.

“They still had a lasting impact,” he said.