USS Arlington (LPD 24) Sailors and Marines held a remembrance ceremony honoring the 13th anniversary of September 11th while underway off the Atlantic coast.
The morning of September 11, 2001, five hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77 forcibly commandeered the controls of the plane and at 9:37 a.m., crashed into the west wall of the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Va. This deliberate attack was the second of three that occurred, the first at the World Trade Center in New York and the third in Somerset County, Pa.
USS Arlington was named in remembrance of the attack on the Pentagon.
The ship’s commemorative ceremony began at 8:47 a.m. with an announcement denoting the time of the first strike on the World Trade Center in New York City. The event was organized and executed by the ship’s nine Chief Petty Officer selectees.
The hand carried boxes (vessels) that Arlington’s Chief Petty Officer selectees carry with them throughout CPO 365 Phase II, bear the names of the 184 people who perished in the attack on the Pentagon. The vessels, when adjoined, create the emblem of the Pentagon.
Events of the ceremony included performances of the National Anthem and the command’s Color Guard. White and Chief Petty Officer (select) Grace Britos shared their experiences as junior Sailors in the Navy at the time of the terrorist attacks and how those events molded the beginning of their careers in naval service.
The ceremony concluded with a moment of silence for the final attack and a reception on the Mess Decks. The crew then dispersed to resume normal underway operations in support of their daily missions.
USS Arlington (LPD 24) is the eighth in Navy’s San Antonio class of ships, designed to be the most survivable amphibious vessels ever put to sea.