Volunteers remember 9/11 on Patriot Day

RALEIGH, N.C. — Patriot Day marks the 24th year since Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It serves as a day of remembrance for the nearly 3,000 lives lost.

More than 50 volunteers gathered Thursday at the Raleigh National Cemetery, as part of the Carry the Load National Day of Service & Remembrance for military and first responders who died during the Sept. 11 attacks.

Among the group was volunteer Carlos Santiago, a volunteer with UBS who says the day carries deep personal meaning. He was living in Manhattan during the attacks and says the twin towers were part of his everyday view.

“The towers was actually my view for every single day. I was right across the street from it,” Santiago said.

The years after the attack were difficult for this New Yorker to navigate. Now in North Carolina, he still chooses to remember the friend he lost.

“Every day this day comes… I think about him,” he said.

Others, like Angelia Fajri, were there to honor the service members who followed in the years after 9/11. Her son, Justin, was inspired by the attacks to join the military right out of high school.

“Justin always liked the military and anything that has anything to do with honoring the flag, honoring the country,” Fajri said.

Organizers of the event say Patriot Day is not only a time of remembrance for those who died on 9/11 but also a chance to reflect on the generations who’ve served before and since.

“It’s just a way of individually remembering them and ensuring that they’re not forgotten as people,” said John Hanken, a Carry the Load ambassador.

Santiago said that being among the volunteers today, he is reminded that we are stronger united as a country.

“There are people here that probably have different beliefs than I have, right? But we’re all working together, right? For a better cause. And that’s what America is all about. That’s what it needs to be all about.”