Sentries to guard liberty on Sept. 11

Local businesses have joined with the Corporal Mason O. Yarbrough Detachment of the Marine Corps League to insure that those who died or were injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be remembered.

The 3-year-old, 130-member chapter is organizing a ceremony, Operation Guarding Freedom, at Freedom Corner -- the location of a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Capaha Park. The ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. Sept. 11 -- the hour the first hijacked airplane flew into the first of the World Trade Center's twin towers.

According to Ron Acord, planning officer for the league and a Marine veteran from 1968-1972, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will speak just after the flag is raised at 8 a.m. Emerson, who was in Washington on the day of the terror attacks, will talk about her reaction to the events of that day. Emerson's staff said that she has cleared her calendar to take part in Sept. 11 anniversary activities, and the ceremony at Capaha Park will begin her day.

Following a wreath-laying, a sentry will march continuously at Freedom Corner throughout the day, changing the guard every 30 minutes. Acord said it will be similar to the guard posted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The sentry will continue until sunset when the flag will be lowered, volleys will be fired and Taps will be sounded.

So far 40 businesses have donated more than $10,000 in total to support the event and to help the league raise money to build a post home so that veterans and current Marines will have a place to gather. Acord said he found that businesses were generous in their donations because they wanted to help the league and because they want to support the memory of those lost in the Sept. 11 attack.

"Some were motivated for giving by extremely emotional reasons," Acord said. "They have relatives in Afghanistan or Iraq right now and are most anxious to see this whole concept brought back to the public view."

One such businessman is Barry Randolph, a vice president at Wood & Huston bank, whose son, Brian, recently returned from a tour with the Army in Afghanistan.

"I feel very strongly about the effort we are making right now and my son happened to be part of that effort in Afghanistan," Randolph said. "We wanted to help these guys out in their endeavor to build a new building."

Brian Randolph will be among the participants in a Reading with Heroes program the NEA is holding at local schools Friday. Brenda Randolph, Brian's mother and Barry's wife, is coordinating that program. Members of the military, police officers, firefighters, and such public officials as state Rep. Jason Crowell and Mayor Jay Knudtson will talk about the significance of 9-11 and will read to the students.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160