SUNY Plattsburgh Holds Solemn Remembrance on 25th Anniversary of 9/11

Bagpipes rang in the start of SUNY Plattsburgh’s ceremony at Hawkins Hall Pond Thursday, where more than 125 people gathered to honor those who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks 25 years ago in New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.

Since 2002, the university has honored the 2,996 who died in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., in a field in Shanksville, Pa., and the thousands of first responders, recovery workers and others whose deaths came later from 9/11-related illnesses such as cancer and respiratory diseases caused by toxic dust and smoke.

While Thursday’s ceremony was held Sept. 10 because of a conflict with the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, it didn’t diminish the importance of the university’s remembrance.

After members of the University Police Color Guard posted the colors and Janet Dandrow performed the National Anthem, emcee Karen McGrath, vice president for enrollment and student success, took to the podium to begin the program.

“Twenty-five years ago, our nation experienced one of the darkest days in our history,” McGrath said. “Yet from unimaginable tragedy came extraordinary courage. Today, we remember those acts of courage. But above all, we remember the people.”

Remembering Our Own

Three SUNY Plattsburgh alumni were among those victims. Two died at Ground Zero: 1984 alum Robert Sutcliffe, a broker for Harvey, Young and Yurman, who was having a breakfast meeting at Windows on the World on the 107^th floor of the North Tower, and William Erwin, a 1992 grad and broker with Cantor Fitzgerald, which had offices on floors 101 to 105 in the North Tower.

New York State Trooper Brian Falb, a 1992 alum, was a victim whose sacrifice wasn’t felt until March 13, 2017, when he succumbed to brain cancer, directly linked to his service at Ground Zero. His daughter, Peyton, and baby grandson, Theodore, as well as Peyton’s partner, David Carpenter, were in attendance at Thursday’s ceremony.

President Alexander Enyedi shared that for those who lived through that day 25 years ago, “it can be difficult to comprehend that so much time has passed.”

“We can remember where we were when we first heard that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center; we remember watching events unfold in real time that seemed impossible to understand,” Enyedi said.

But 25 years also means something else, he said.

“An entire generation has now grown up with no personal memory of Sept. 11. Most students studying at SUNY Plattsburgh today were not yet born; they know Sept. 11 as history. And that makes this anniversary particularly important,” he said. “Remembrance becomes an act of responsibility and respect.”

Today’s students “are the keepers of (the) stories. That is how remembrance survives — one generation entrusts memory to the next,” Enyedi said. “We ask them to remember what people did in response; first responders ran toward unimaginable danger. Strangers helped strangers; communities came together. People cared for grieving families and found countless ways to serve one another.”

The president reaffirmed that on 9/11, “we stand together to remember the 2,977 people tragically killed on Sept. 11, 2001.”

“And here at SUNY Plattsburgh, we remember Bob Sutcliffe, Billy Erwin and Brian Falb. Twenty-five years later, we carry their stories forward. May we do so with gratitude. May we do so with purpose. And may we always remember,” he said.

Saw ‘the Grief on the Faces’

State Assemblyman Michael Cashman, a member of the SUNY Plattsburgh undergraduate Class of 2003, recalled that morning 25 years ago when he, like many others, found themselves gathered at the television that had at that time been hung in the Angell College Center’s former information desk, and his first thought was of his mother, a frequent traveler out of Logan Airport in Boston.

He was eventually able to reach his mom on the phone.

“But for so many others, those phone calls went unanswered,” Cashman said. As they continued watching across campus, “we could see the grief on the faces of students, faculty and staff.”

University Police Chief Patrick Rascoe was a detective with the Plattsburgh City Police Department at the time, and he knew Brian Falb when the fallen trooper was a student at SUNY Plattsburgh.

“For me, Sept. 11 will always be personal,” he said. “I remember knowing that regular people, police officers, firefighters, and emergency responders were all dead. My entire career had taught me that when something terrible happens, you respond. You go. You help. But I was here 400 miles away. And there was absolutely nothing I could do.”

Falb ‘Answered the Call’

But there were thousands who were able to answer that call, Rascoe said. One of them was Falb.

“He went to Ground Zero and served. At the time, no one could have known the full cost of that service,” Rascoe said. “For Brian, and for thousands of other responders, Sept. 11 did not end when the recovery operation ended. The sacrifice followed them home.”

Having spent more than three decades in law enforcement, Rascoe said his understanding of his job has become much simpler.

“Our job about people — sometimes our job means running toward danger; sometimes (it) simply means showing another person compassion. And perhaps that is something all of us can carry away from this memorial today,” he said. “Show compassion when someone needs it. Serve your community in whatever way you are able. And remember those who did the same before us. Twenty-five years ago, I watched from Plattsburgh, wishing there was something I could do. Twenty-five years later, I understand that there is. We can tell their stories.”

Gina Bond, Paul Leduc and Kerry Chapin-Lavigne did just that. Each told the story of the university’s fallen Cardinals. Enyedi and Cashman then placed a wreath on the permanent memorial.

“Here at SUNY Plattsburgh, Sept. 11 is not simply part of our nation’s history; it is part of our university’s history,” McGrath said. “Today we remember three Cardinals whose lives remain forever connected to that day. Robert Sutcliffe, William Erwin, and Brian Falb. Their stories remind us that service, compassion, courage, and love for others continue long after tragedy. It is now our responsibility to ensure those memories and the lessons they teach — are carried forward to future generations.”

— Story, Photos by Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs