BRIDGEPORT, Calif. -- Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 15 took time yesterday to observe a moment of silence during Mountain Exercise 2014 in remembrance of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
Mountain Exercise 2014, being held aboard Marine Corps Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, Calif., develops critical skills the battalion will need during their upcoming deployment with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
“This memorial service is a remembrance and tribute to both living and dead,” said Lt. Col. Wilfred Rivera, the commanding officer for CLB-15, to a crowd of Marines and sailors. “Today we will recall and celebrate what we learned about the American spirit on Sept. 11, 2001.”
The ceremony began with Staff Sgt. Tamara Moody, a food service specialist with CLB-15, reading a timeline of events from that dreadful day.
“September 11 really hits home for me,” said Moody, 31, from Baton Rouge, La. “I had just signed my paperwork to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. This is really special to me because this is a time when America stood up.”
During the ceremony, Marines, filled with emotion, read the heroic actions of the citizens of United Airlines Flight 93.
“This is the reason why I joined the Marine Corps,” said Sgt. Christopher Cochems, a landing support specialist with CLB-15. “I started to get a little choked up part way through it. I had flashbacks of those images I saw on TV of the airplane crashing into the building.”
Honor is one of the core values of the Marine Corps, and the ceremony focused on honoring the positives of that tragic day.
“It’s important that we take time to remember and honor this day,” said Cochems, 28, from Bemidji, Minn. “If we don’t then it becomes just another day.”
The Marines used this as a reminder for what they are training for.
“If you have less than 13 years of service, then you signed up knowing we were at war,” Rivera said. “Marines and sailors will be meeting like this every September 11, to serve as a reminder that we have enemies in this world that will destroy us if they could. Our contribution as Combat Logistics Battalion to triumph over terrorism, and conquer the senseless tragedy of that horrible day is by preparing ourselves to extend as the 15th MEU operational reach when we become the tip of the spear next spring.”