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Hutchinson Urges State and Nation to Not Forget
(Posted: September 11, 2009) (Printable Version)
The message on Sept. 11, 2009, at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith became a call to action during a remembrance ceremony held to commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists attacked America and left thousands dead and missing.
Guest speaker was Asa Hutchinson, former undersecretary for border and transportation security for the Department of Homeland Security, which was established in response of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hutchinson said it was critical for the state and nation to not forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.
Hutchinson thanked Fort Smith officials for hosting the ceremony, saying the number of ceremonies like this was diminishing.
“The most important reflection that all of us should have is to thank the men and women in uniform … that went to the scene at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon,” Hutchinson said. “At that moment, they went to save lives at the risk of their own.”
He said he is often asked why there has not been another attack on America in the last eight years.
“I’ll give you a very simple answer … It’s because of what our men and women have done overseas to protect America, and those men and women deserve our applause,” he said as the audience began clapping. He said he is also asked what he would call the nation’s greatest vulnerability.
“A forgetful memory,” he said, recalling an attack eight years prior to the 2001 events, also at the World Trade Center.
“We have to persevere and not forget in the same fashion,” he cautioned. “We have to remember today that this is a dangerous world. Enemies hate our country, hate our values.
“We cannot be naïve about the intent of the enemy. … We must make sure that this does not happen to America again.”
Hutchinson, a former attorney in Fort Smith, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas’s 3rd District from January 1997 to August 2001. He was also director of the Drug Enforcement Administration from 2001-2003. In early 2005, Hutchinson and two partners formed a consulting firm, Hutchinson Group LLC, In Little Rock and accepted a contract position with Vanable LLP in Washington, D.C., as head of its Homeland Security practice. After a break to pursue an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign, he rejoined Venable in 2007. In 2008, Hutchinson and son Asa III founded The Asa Hutchinson Law Group, based in Rogers.
This year’s Sept. 11 event was initiated by City Administrator Dennis Kelly in partnership with UA Fort Smith. Dr. Paul B. Beran, UA Fort Smith chancellor, called the ceremony an example of how the city, county “and all of us are working together to make Fort Smith the best place it can possibly be.” He then gave a caution to the students and community members.
“Let us not forget the consequences and actions of 9/11,” said Dr. Beran, as he called for those students and community members in attendance to continue to honor those who died that day and in the days afterward.
He called for education, cultural interaction, and sharing of ideas and points of view.
“Nothing will be different until we all start to listen to each other,” he said.
He called the ceremony both a commemoration and a celebration.
“This is a celebration of the United States,” said Dr. Beran. “We are celebrating the fact that we are the strongest, most vibrant nation in the world.”
Other ceremony participants included Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker, the color guard from the Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing and Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey, as well as a bell ceremony, explained by Fort Smith Fire Department Chief Mike Richards, and “Taps” played by Michael Leister of the Fort Smith Fire Department.
In addition to the Air National Guard and Fort Smith Police and Fire Departments, others in attendance who were recognized were representatives of Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services, the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines, the United States Army Reserve and the UA Fort Smith Police Department.
Sept. 11 was designated in late 2001 in the United States as Patriot Day in memory of the casualties from the attacks. On Sept.11, 2001, four planes were hijacked and the hijackers deliberately flew three of them into two important buildings, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
UA Fort Smith’s first commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks came only three days after the event itself as the university took part in a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance ceremony. The event included student and staff participation as well as an opportunity for those attending to write their thoughts on a large banner.
Several commemorative programs were held at UA Fort Smith on anniversaries of the 2001 attack, but the largest effort by the university came in 2006 when UA Fort Smith sponsored a series of events. The university held an opening on Sept. 7, 2006, for an exhibit containing photographs and artifacts titled “Five Years from Ground Zero — Through the Lens of the Photojournalist,” having collected memorable images taken by photographers and photojournalists from throughout the United States. Four of the internationally recognized photojournalists whose work was included in the exhibit came to the campus for the exhibit opening.
Shortly after that exhibit opened on campus, UA Fort Smith sponsored a “First on the Scene” seminar conducted by two of the award-winning photojournalists, a seminar that included their discussion of how Sept. 11 coverage impacted their professional careers and personal lives.
Other activities included a special traveling display from The Associated Press titled “9/11 Five Years Later” as well as a visit by author David Friend, editor of creative development at “Vanity Fair,” who wrote “Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11.” UA Fort Smith also showed “WTC Uncut,” a documentary of video footage taken with a continuous fixed shot of the Twin Towers burning. Culminating the month of activities in 2006 was a remembrance concert.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations | |
| Photo(s) by: Sondra LaMar |
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