By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Alex Wilkerson, now 23, was just a toddler when 17 minutes apart hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 177 slammed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

Nathan White was several years from being born when American Airlines Flight 77 sliced into the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh, the hijackers’ targeted mission foiled by passenger rebellion.

Manning a fire service truck at the Patriot Day event at the CHEER Community Center, the two young members of the Gumboro Volunteer Fire Company have done their homework and know what 9/11 is all about.

“I don’t have any recollection of it,” said Mr. Wilkerson, a Gumboro VFC member going on two years. “But to this day, 20 years later, there is still major impact in the community with everything that happened that day. It was unfortunate, but it is good to see the spirit of everybody still coming together. It definitely will never be forgotten.”

“It is one of the things that inspired me to do this (fire service). You can’t go in any fire station around here and not see anything to do with 9/11. Everywhere, they’ve got it. You’ll see plaques on the wall or memorials. It’s a daily kind of thing,” Mr. Wilkerson said. “I know in talking to some of the older members of Gumboro, even though it is a small town, I think they ended up sending a pumper or a tanker to Wilmington for standby.”

“9/11, I might not have been alive to see it or hear the sounds, the explosions. But when I see pictures of it, it hits me hard,” said Mr. White. “I might not be a full-time firefighter and I might not live in New York, but it still hits me because I know that we, our department was possibly involved, or we could have been involved. And we would have helped, and we would have tried our best.”

Calls of “Never Forget” rang out across America Saturday, the 20-year remembrance of the terrorist attacks that shook the country.

Special events were held in many towns, including Millsboro and Georgetown.

At American Legion Post 28 in Millsboro, a colossal project spurred by donations, many volunteer hours and the Legion Unit 28 Auxiliary brought to light a special remembrance. Upward of 3,000 bags weighted with sand and a tea light were placed next to the Post 28 pavilion for a dusk candlelight remembrance.

Carefully placed in the field by volunteers Saturday, each bag had the name of one person who perished in terrorist attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and those on the plane that crashed in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.

“It was super big. We’ve been working for a while,” said Auxiliary Unit 28 spokeswoman Tina Washington. “Today we had about 50 volunteers here putting the sand and tea lights in the bags. We actually thought it was going to take us much longer. It only took us about an hour and half because we had so many volunteers.”

The 2021 Patriot Day observance at the CHEER Community Center featured a huge car show facilitated by the County Seat Cruisers, about a dozen speakers, a historical archive/remembrance display, a memorial bell to honor those who died and a display of fire engines and police vehicles that spanned past to present.

The Patriot Day schedule also included several fly-bys of aircraft.

“I’m speechless for what is here today. A wonderful turnout. I am well pleased, and for the other towns that are having events too,” said Levin Clark, a key facilitator in the annual Patriot Day observance.

“A lot of people have asked me about it, little kids asked me what is 9/11. It is kind of hard to explain to them. But after I sat down for a couple minutes and actually talked to them, they figured it out,” Mr. Clark said. “We had too many people killed there to forget. Like I said, I will never forget them — aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, moms and dads. We can’t forget them.”

John Kisser of Seaford entered in the car show his bright orange 1960 Rambler American, which a previous owner transformed into a fire chief’s vehicle. There was a “For Sale” sign in the window. A 9/11 flag at his show spot told a main reason he was there.

“I was an active duty firefighter in Baltimore City when the World Trade Center was attacked. I was part of a technical rescue team that does search and rescue. We gathered, and we thought we might get deployed to New York. But they had plenty of help, so they didn’t wind up calling us,” Mr. Kisser said. “I was just dumbfounded. I can understand how people felt about Pearl Harbor back in 1941. This is just my way of helping to commemorate those who lost their lives in the attacks.”

On display in the entrance lobby of the CHEER Community Center was Korean War veteran Walter Koopman’s vast collection of artifacts, flags and memorabilia of 9/11 “before, during and after.”

“I have just cherished this,” said Mr. Koopman, a member of CHEER’s board of directors. “Today is 20 years. I was going on 67 years old 20 years ago. I just have not forgotten it. I’ve put this together, so hopefully the younger generation will see this and try to understand what happened to this country 20 years ago.”

His collection included the Path of Destruction with routes the four hijacked planes took in the attacks, photographs of the targets before, during and after and numerous publications including a book by then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Koopman also displayed his Flag of Honor containing the names of all those who died in 9/11.

“Over the years I started. I have more stuff so I can update this. Shanksville, I plan to go there, if not the end of this year it will be next year to take my own pictures,” said Mr. Koopman. “And I’d like to do a little bit more about the Pentagon, being a military guy.”

Mr. Clark, pointing to Old Glory waving in the breeze, asked all in attendance to “Look, and remember that flag. Remember where we are from — the United States of America.”