JACKSONVILLE, Onslow County — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Jacksonville native is marking his birthday with a personal connection to the day’s history.
Brent Whorton was born Sept. 11, 2001, moments after the first plane struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
Whorton now serves as a mass communication specialist seaman aboard the USS Arlington.
The Navy ship is named in tribute to the 184 people killed in the attack on the Pentagon.
Whorton said he did not know about the ship’s connection to Sept. 11 when he was first assigned there.
He said he learned about the USS Arlington’s mission while speaking with his father.
Whorton said his father stepped into a hospital hallway shortly after Whorton was born and learned the first tower had been hit.
“I discovered that it was a tribute ship,” Whorton said. “When I first found that out, I was actually talking to my father about it and thought it was like this divine providence that I should be here.”
The USS Arlington includes a tribute room honoring Pentagon victims.
The room includes pieces of wreckage recovered from the Pentagon.
Whorton said serving aboard the ship connects every crew member to the story of Sept. 11.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s Patriot Day Observance begins at 8:15 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at the 9/11 Memorial Beam at Lejeune Memorial Gardens.
The memorial includes a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center.