Remembering Sept. 11, 2001
INDIANAPOLIS - On a clear Tuesday morning on September 11, 2001, an act of terror on American soil in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania left men, women and children with a feeling of emptiness, sorrow and anger. Today, thirteen years later, Americans have come together to remember and honor the heroes who lost their lives on that dreadful morning.
Thousands of men in Tau Kappa Epsilon have served the United States or Canada as firefighters, policemen or members of the armed forces. Their selflessness and sacrifice has made our fraternal experience possible. The Offices of the Grand Chapter would like to thank all Fraters who have served their nation.
The cowardly and venomous acts of September 11, 2001 have resonated throughout the free world. Thousands of lives were lost in the attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and the crash in Pennsylvania, and among the victims included five members of Tau Kappa Epsilon: Fraters John C. Willett (Kappa-Nu, Rockhurst University), Sgt. Major Larry L. Strickland (Chi, University of Washington), Douglas A. Gowell (Mu-Epsilon, University of Lowell), Steven D. Jacoby (Zeta-Tau, Shippensburg University) and Michael J. Mullin (Sigma-Epsilon, SUNY Oneonta).
In fall of 2001, Tau Kappa Epsilon's THE TEKE wrote a powerful piece titled "Answering the Call" in memory of those Fraters who lost their lives.
John C. Willett was on the phone in his 101st-floor World Trade Center office when the first American Airlines jetliner crashed into his tower Tuesday morning. Sgt. Major Larry Strickland was in the Pentagon after giving up a day off to attend a meeting. Douglas A. Gowell was an unsuspecting passenger when his United Airlines flight was hijacked in midair.
Click here to read letters in memory of John C. Willett, Sgt. Major Larry Strickland and Douglas A Gowell.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani might have said it best, "It's natural - as time goes by, people's memories fade, they move on to other things. The important thing is that people in the country realize, whether they remember it as vividly as they did then, that it is not part of our history. This is part of our present."
As our Fraternity strives to be Better Men for a Better World we will always remember our past, and we will always remember September 11, 2001.