Corte Bella Vets member and volunteer Donna Norton organized a solemn and moving remembrance ceremony to honor the 2,977 people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The program also remembered those who died in the years that followed from related illnesses and injuries.
U.S. Navy veteran Bill Hamilton served as master of ceremonies, and Pam Jones offered the invocation. An honor guard from the Arizona Fire and Medical Authority lowered the flag to half-staff and conducted the traditional bell-ringing ceremony following Cindy Buda’s stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
CB Vets President Mike Broderick and HOA Board President Sharon Martin delivered brief remarks. U.S. Army veteran Tom Dietz laid a wreath at the base of the flagpole. The wreath was designed and donated by his wife, Char Dietz.
Members of American Legion Post 94 concluded the ceremony with a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.” A procession of motorcycles and golf carts then traveled around the community circle, and attendees were invited to walk the circle in remembrance.
