Pepperdine University marks the 10th anniversary of one of America’s most tragic days with an all-day program and a sea of red-white, and blue.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
On Sunday, amid 2,977 flags somberly flapping in the Pacific breeze on Pepperdine University’s sprawling Malibu lawn, thousands of people, including hundreds of motorcycle riders comprised of law enforcement and war veterans, attended a special day of 9/11 remembrance, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.
The flags were symbolic of the victims and emergency responders who died on Sept. 11, 2001 when terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and in a field in Pennsylvania.
Attending Sunday’s ceremonies were Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, former California Gov. Gray Davis, California Assemblywoman Julia Brownley and Deena Burnett Bailey, whose husband, Pepperdine alumnus Thomas E. Burnett Jr., was among those who perished on United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania when he and several others tried to thwart the terrorists’ hijacking.
The program began in the morning Sunday when 20 readers from various service and professional organizations joined 15 people from the Pepperdine community to read the names of victims.
In the afternoon, the feature film, “United 93,” portraying the heroism of the United Flight 93 crew and passengers who fought back against the terrorists, was screened in the Elkins Auditorium. Actor Christian Clemenson, who portrayed Burnett, Jr. in the 2006 film, discussed his work on the Paul Greengrass film after the screening.
Late in the afternoon in Pepperdine’s Alumni Park, located on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, Keith Hinkle, Pepperdine senior vice president for Advancement and Public Affairs, kicked off the main program, which included a processional of military, fire and law enforcement personnel, a color guard presentation, the George Herbert Hall Bagpipers and the National Anthem sung by Pepperdine senior voice major Devony Smith.
Supervisor Yaroslavsky recalled that on that fateful, infamous day he was jogging around the grounds of his hotel in Washington, D.C. in the morning and just missed witnessing the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
“I would’ve seen it from the crest of the bridge had I left the hotel a half hour earlier,” he said.
Quoting Elie Wiesel on the importance of memory in preserving loved ones who have died, and also citing Deuteronomy, Yaroslavsky delivered a poignant speech. He said Americans now have the resolve to make sure “never again will this country be attacked in the way it was.”
In the wake of the 2001 attacks, he continued, “We were just plain old Americans for one brief minute, one brief day, all the [racial, cultural and religious] divisions disappeared … Somehow I wish we could bottle that feeling and make it perpetual.”
Then Davis took to the dais.
“At our darkest moment,” Davis said, “the bright light of the American resolve shined” in the form of the first responders, who became “the face of America.”
The former governor acknowledged how significant it was “to honor the courage and the sacrifices made for us on 9/11.”
When people ask him, ‘What can we do?’ Davis said he has a ready response: “When you see someone with a uniform on [whatever the uniform], go up to that person, look them in the eye and say, ‘Thank you for your service.’”
Assemblywoman Brownley commended the heroes of Flight 93 for “refusing to be frozen by fear or powerlessness. They dialed their loved ones and mobilized.
“We must remain vigilant and educate ourselves,” she said. “To connect with our neighbors and get personally involved. No matter how small [our actions] may seem, it changes the future.”
The 41st Assembly District assemblywoman then presented a special state resolution honoring the late Burnett Jr.
Deena Burnett Bailey, who has remarried since Burnett Jr.’s death 10 years ago, said, “When we lost Tom, I told you what it meant to me. I didn’t tell you what Tom meant to the world.”
In an improvised moment before her address, the widow of the Pepperdine alumnus brought her three daughters up on stage. She remembered how a friend a decade back had told her, “‘Our whole nation is turning to the 9/11 families … If we can see that you’re okay, then we will be okay.’”
Then, with her arms around her three teenage girls, Burnett Bailey said, “My daughters and I are okay.”
Pepperdine President Andrew K. Benton closed the program.