As the students at Smyrna High School walked through a timeline of events on Sept. 11, 2001, images flashed on the screen.
The burning World Trade Center towers. Smoke billowing from the Pentagon. A plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers overthrew hijackers.
"We will not forsake you," student and brigade commander Justice Wilson said as he presented the events.
The 17-year-old was among a handful of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets gathered on Sept. 4 as the group fine-tuned plans for a ceremony slated for the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The attacks left around 3,000 dead, collapsed the World Trade Center, heavily damaged the Pentagon and altered the course of the United States and global history. While the attacks unfolded
well before the students in the room were born, several shared about when the reality of 9/11 settled in for them.
For Wilson, that moment came during his freshman year when he saw video testimonials from firefighters who responded on 9/11 and saw people leaping to their deaths from the towers.
"That was when I really understood the gravity of the situation," he said. "They're in such a dire situation that they would rather end their lives than continue to experience what they're going through."
Wilson, who is applying to Ivy League colleges and considering studying biochemical engineering, said the ceremony is a moment for students to take time out of their hectic schedules to honor the anniversary of the attacks and what they changed.
"What I hope they take away from it is that 9/11 was more than just a turning point in the U.S.," he said. "It was a turning point in the world."
Hani Hayilu, a senior who serves as the cadet battalion commander for the group, immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia in 2021. Growing up, she said, her family faced religious oppression. She said she appreciates the sacrifices others have made to protect the U.S. and the people who live here.
"I wear this uniform with pride because I know what freedom costs," Hayilu said as she practiced her speech for the ceremony.
The teen said she hopes to serve in the military one day and is considering studying at Trevecca Nazarene University after graduation. Living in the U.S. and doing this project has made her appreciate the freedom she has even more.
"Coming from a place where safety has never been a guarantee, it's very moving to know that there's someone out there who's going to put their time, their family and their personal needs aside, just to protect … strangers like me," she said.
TN students, educators share what 9/11 means to them
Smyrna High, a diverse school of around 2,300 students in Rutherford County, is home to a wide variety of immigrant students, like Hayilu.Cadets Marion Acosta, Madelyn Morales and Joyis Salama took a break from preparing the ceremony to share about their own experiences. Like Hayilu, all three come from immigrant families. Morales said she is often disheartened by her fellow students not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.
"It's not just a flag," Morales said. "It really does mean something."
Salama hopes their 9/11 ceremony will bring a better understanding among students about what the pledge is about and foster a sense of unity.
"We all have reasons to stand for the flag," she said. "It's not tied to anything that's going on nowadays, whether you like it or not."
Like their peers, cadets Matthew Gunn, Ryan Roman and Deangelo Villavicencio also said the Pledge of the Allegiance and the concept of freedom has taken on a new meaning as they’ve learned more about 9/11 throughout their project.
Acosta, who is now 17, first learned about 9/11 as a freshman who had just arrived in the country. She said hearing the personal story of Denise Hiott, an Army veteran and administrator at Smyrna High, was pivotal in helping her understand it. Hiott was living just outside New York City in New Jersey when the attacks unfolded.
Hiott was 21 at the time and had visited the World Trade Center the day before. Her father, an elevator mechanic, was working in the towers that day but managed to escape the attack. Her friend who attended a university near the towers also emerged unharmed. Her mother was working at a YMCA and told Hiott stories about children whose parents never picked them up because they died in the attack. One of Hiott's high school friends lost her father that day.
On Sept. 12, Hiott enlisted in the Army. Within a month, she was in basic training. She said nearly everyone she met during training had stories about losing loved ones or knowing someone who did.
"It was just a very, very personal thing," she said.
Hiott eventually went on to become a math teacher, ultimately settling in Rutherford County. When she talks to students about 9/11, Hiott asks probing, open-ended questions like, "How would you feel about your neighbor if something attacked both of you?" and "How would that change the way you think about your community, or being from Tennessee or being an American?" A mother of three, Hiott said all of her children are involved in JROTC, including two who attend Smyrna High.
In total, the JROTC program at Smyrna High has 136 students. The cadets, along with a few dozen other students, are slated to gather the morning of Sept. 11 for the special presentation, complete with a flag ceremony, speeches, videos, photos and the playing of "Taps." They'll also recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sense of unity, pride permeates Smyrna High 9/11 ceremony
Retired Army Maj. James Jones co-leads the group with Sgt. Major Charles E. Robinson.
Now 50, Jones recalled the moment he learned about the attacks. He was on leave and awaiting deployment to Korea at the time, and was in disbelief and disturbed by what he saw unfold on the news that day. But the national unity that followed also left an impression on him.
“Sept. 12 was probably one of the best days in America as far as unity goes,” Jones said. “Because no matter what demographic you were from, everybody united and felt that sense of pride and that sense that we had to do something to preserve what we have here.”
After his time in Korea, Jones went on to do multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. After 25 years in the Army, he retired from active duty in 2020 and took on his role at Smyrna High that same year. He said he and Robinson gave the cadets the basics of what they'd like them to cover during their 9/11 ceremony, but left the rest up to them. Jones said he's moved by what the students put together.
"They're making something that's beautiful, and they mean it," Jones said. "I feel like a proud parent."
Rachel Wegner covers education and children's issues for The Tennessean. Got a story you think she should hear? Reach her via email at RAwegner@tennessean.com. You can also find her on X or Bluesky under the handle RachelAnnWegner.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Smyrna students honor 9/11, preserving lessons for a new generation
