Community pays tribute to heroes

Roughly 250 members of the campus and community gathered Monday on the Flag Plaza of the Dean’s Green to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the Nebraskan soldiers who have died in the war.

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps personnel conducted the memorial service. 1st Lt. Franklin Annis was the keynote speaker. ROTC cadets raised the American flag to half-staff, and officers of the American Legion Auxiliary placed a poppy wreath under the flag. A “fallen soldier” memorial was temporarily displayed under the flag. Afterward, Dr. Adam Lambert played “Taps.”

Annis mentioned the importance of teaching future generations about the horror of 9/11 and the unity Americans achieved afterward. He said the terrorist attack failed to attack U.S. diversity. “Every person can live free; every person can have rights that are worth defending.”

Annis acknowledged the “burden of fighting on the frontline and on the home front,” and the difficulties faced by the families of the soldiers.

The Nebraskan soldiers who died in the “Global War on Terror” were recognized by name.

Pat Mracek, the mother of one of the fallen soldiers, Sgt. Cory Mracek of the 82nd Airborne Division, was present. “He re-enlisted after 9/11 because his country needed him,” she said.

The military members and families, police officers, and firefighters who attended the service were also recognized.