Dover Air Force Base honors 23rd anniversary of 9/11
DOVER, Del. – William Raff was in the South Tower on the 40th floor when the second plane struck the World Trade Center: “Each year on September 11th, I get back in touch with those raw feelings. They’re sad. They’re somber, but they’re hopeful.”
Addressing service members at Dover Air Force Base Wednesday, he spoke of the importance of sharing and remembering the stories of each and every person affected by the tragedy.
“Each one of those stories has a point. Each one of those stories is about a person, and people are the most important thing,” he said.
Raff’s message resonated with Colonel William McDonald, Commander of the 436th Airlift Wing. On the importance of the memorial service and the significance of hearing a first-hand account from a survivor, McDonald said, “We have a lot of service members who are serving now who probably weren’t even alive on 9/11. And so [it’s important] to pass that heritage, to pass that memory onto generation after generation and help remind them why we serve.”
Raff said the heroic actions of first responders and civilians on that day 23 years ago give him hope for the future.
“There is an opportunity, and the aftermath of 9/11 demonstrates that ordinary people stood up and did extraordinary things, and they helped other people, and they worked with all kinds of people. That’s the lesson to us, that if we came together and we stopped fighting and start talking, and if we pool our resources, you know, we could do anything, we could go to mars and cure cancer. It’s possible and there is hope.”
He feels it’s his duty to live his life honoring and remembering all those who lost their lives.
Raff said he volunteers regularly at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. “Very frequently, a question I get is ‘Where were you?’ and I tell them my story. It has a happy ending. Most of the stories, or many of the stories, do not have that. I can share, I can speak for my 23 colleagues who were killed that day. I can speak for them. They can’t tell their own stories.”
“What 9/11 left me with is such appreciation for being alive…It’s my job to live a good life and tell their stories,” Raff said.
