Westwood students honor a day they never knew |

FORT PIERCE — For the students of Fort Pierce Westwood Academy, Sept. 11, 2001, is history.

None of them were alive when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93. They know the day through videos, photographs, history lessons and the stories of people who experienced it firsthand.

On Friday, Sept. 11, the school’s Panther Battalion JROTC helped make sure the memory of that day remains alive.

A meaningful part of the ceremony was the personal perspective shared by guest speaker Ashley Granberg, who was living in New Jersey when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. Like many who lived in the metropolitan area at the time, Granberg lost loved ones in the attacks.

Her story served as a reminder that, for thousands of families, the tragedy was not simply a historic event but a deeply personal loss.

The students organized and participated in a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, honoring those who died, the first responders who rushed toward danger, service members who answered the call and the families forever changed by the events.

For some cadets, the ceremony offered a more personal connection to an event they could otherwise know only from a textbook.

“Even though I wasn’t alive at the time that it happened,” said Temperance Sinclair, a JROTC captain who is responsible for logistics and supplies, “watching the videos and hearing our guest speakers speak about the experience that she had, it impacted me. It was just a very tragic event.”

Sinclair helped behind the scenes, making sure flags and other supplies were ready for the ceremony.

She said the event reminded her of the tragedy of 9/11, but also of the courage and selfless service displayed in its aftermath.

“I think that the event today helped us recognize the people who have helped out, have given their personal courage and their selfless service,” she said.

Michelle Sama, another JROTC captain, served as the battalion’s public affairs officer. She documented the ceremony through photographs and helped with social media, flyers and community service events.

Sama said the ceremony provided an opportunity for the school community to come together and honor those who died and the families who endured the aftermath.

“I feel like the event really highlights how the United States came together as a nation to support everyone that was going through it at the time,” she said.

Angela Rivera, the battalion commander, said being born after 9/11 does not make the event any less important to today’s students.

“It was a lesson for all of us to learn,” Rivera said. “Just because we weren’t there at that time doesn’t mean that we can’t always still learn it. Or doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect us personally.”

Rivera said having first responders at the ceremony was especially meaningful for the students, giving them an opportunity to better understand the people who put themselves in danger to help others.

“There were people who lost their lives trying to save others,” she said. “So I think this was a very wholesome moment for all of us.”

First Sgt. Victor Thomas, director of the JROTC program, said the ceremony was the first 9/11 remembrance held at Westwood. The students had about 30 days to put it together while juggling testing and other school activities.

“They did an outstanding job,” Thomas said, praising the students’ speeches and the color guard and flag detail.

For Army instructor Aldoray Lewis, the ceremony carried a different weight.

Lewis was an adult when the attacks occurred and remembers being in a Publix in Florida when he learned what was happening. At the time, he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. He was called back to his military post and boarded a plane the next day, cutting his vacation short.

“(The ceremony) took me back to that day,” Lewis said. “That’s one thing we can’t forget because it did shape what our world is today.”

For the cadets who planned and participated in Friday’s ceremony, remembering 9/11 is not about remembering something they personally witnessed.

It is about making sure the people and sacrifices of that day are not forgotten by the generation that came afterward.