A generation's lullaby: JROTC cadets reflect on 9/11 Published Sept. 11, 2014 By Staff Sgt. Jarad A. Denton 501st Combat Support Wing RAF ALCONBURY, United Kingdom -- With his blue, button-down shirt, black slacks and matching carry-on satchel, Mohammed Atta looked like a stereotypical businessman trying to catch a commuter flight at Portland International Jetport, Maine. He, and his travelling companion, Abdulaziz al-Omari, passed through security and boarded a short flight to Boston's Logan Airport, Sept. 11, 2001. There, they connected with American Airlines Flight 11, bound for Los Angeles. It was a destination they had no intention of ever seeing. "We have some planes," Atta said, during an accidental communication with air traffic control after he and al-Omari hijacked Flight 11. "Just stay quiet and you will be OK." Twenty-two minutes later, at 8:46 a.m., Atta slammed the airplane into the North Tower of New York City's World Trade Center - killing himself and hundreds of people instantly, while showering the streets below with a rain of steel and concrete. Nearly 5,000 miles away, the pandemonium in New York was playing out live on television as 3-year-old Reigha Barone, and her mother, watched. "I was sitting in my living room as my mom and I watched the TV," said Barone, now a U.S. Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet and senior at Alconbury High School, United Kingdom. "I remember seeing lots of smoke and these little flashes of orange and yellow light going off - I think they were explosions." Barone said her mother, who was originally from New York, began panicking and calling friends and family to make sure they were safe. Now, 13 years later, Barone reflects on her memories of 9/11 during a remembrance ceremony at Alconbury Middle-High School. "When I pair what I remember with what I know now, it's almost like filling in the puzzle pieces," Barone said. "I know now that all the smoke and flames was the Twin Towers, and that a terrorist group was responsible. I also know about the bravery of people who sacrificed their lives. It's really hard to think about how many people who died as a result of terrorism." As part of a generation who primarily learned about 9/11 from school or family members, Barone and her classmates agreed that the courage of those at Ground Zero has not faded from memory. "It's great how this whole country came together for one cause, and how we honor and respect what people did to help others that day," said James Wood, a senior and Air Force JROTC cadet at Alconbury High School. "I would like to think that if I had been at Ground Zero I would have helped where and how I could." Wood stood in formation, along with his fellow JROTC cadets, as a student read the names of firefighters who fell that day, along with a single call to action: "remember." As a small child, Wood said his memory of that day is surprisingly vivid. "That same day my dad was getting deployed," Wood said, speaking about his father, U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. Jonathan Wood. "That's what I remember. We dropped him off at the harbor and my mom took me to preschool. Everybody was crying. I didn't know what had happened; I was too young to understand. But, I understand now." As with many of his classmates, Wood said the bravery of members from the New York Police Department and Fire Department of New York is what helps sustain his memory. The students at Alconbury High School are part of a generation raised on the lullaby of heroism and gallantry that began mere seconds after Flight 11 struck the North Tower, with emergency responders rushing to the scene. "It must have been incredibly scary," Wood said. "It was just a normal day for them until this happened. It's really incredible to look back and see that so many people came together to help one another." Today, all that remains of the once magnificent twin towers is a memory of the heroic men and women who set aside fear and personal safety to rescue and protect others; a memory so great that it reaches higher than the monolith build overtop the ruins. Standing 1,776-feet tall, the One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. To the students at Alconbury, it and the events of that tragic day, serve as a constant reminder of the American spirit to overcome great tragedy and adversity. "More than anything, I wish I could tell the people who sacrificed everything that day 'thank you,'" said Barone. "They saved lives that day and I have the utmost respect for each and every one of them." Editor's Note: Excerpts from the 9/11 Memorial Timeline were used in this story. For more information, visit: http://timeline.national911memorial.org/