Sept 11 Ceremony 2023

foreign [Music] [Music] thank you we want to welcome you to our September 11th memorial service in honor of Miss Cece Ross Laos and all those that gave their lives that we honor today as national heroes that's good come on come on let's give him a hand in 2011. in Shanksville Pennsylvania president at the time uh ex-president Bill Clinton declared that for the next 250 years in America we will be honoring these men and women for the sacrifices that they gave on that notable day and without any further ado I want to welcome our mayor mayor Linda Hudson of the city of Fort Pierce come on let's show her some love as she come thank you so much on behalf of the city of Fort Pierce I want to welcome you to this memorial service for cc Ross Lyles and uh all the people who died on 9 11. and all the people who are still suffering from what happened on 9 11. CeCe was a Westwood High School graduate and served as a Fort Pierce police officer and her actions on flight 93 proved that she was a woman of service and a woman of God and all those passengers who perished on flight 93 perished with her and they knew what they were doing they were trying to protect our country she was a woman of service and she chose to become a police officer in the Fort Pierce police department and also a flight attendant on United Airlines and so in December of 2001 the Congress declared Patriot Day the national day of remembrance and service and so you're here and you're here in remembrance and I appreciate that very much but we also urge you to volunteer to help anyone that you can because this is a day of service and any day that you can we would appreciate it we can have our wonderful Fort Pierce and Safe Community if we all don't cooperate and help each other in the words of Helen Keller although the world is full of suffering it is also full of the overcoming of suffering and so I'd like to say God bless our country our state this city our wonderful residents of Fort Pierce our military and our law enforcement and all First Responders thank you very much for your service to you now we'll have the opening invocation by the Reverend Cyril Baker 13th Street Church of God thank you thank you thank you good morning everybody good morning one more time it's the 22nd year and I'm grateful to be a part of it I am grateful that this is America where we have our freedom there's so many people gave up their lives so we could be free and I am glad to be a part of it I'd like to say good morning to everyone that are here this morning all the different groups that are here to our mayor and to our family and to all our officers and to all the officers of the police department the sheriff department and all of the First Responders Andrew Reverend Mays Dr Mills and also to Dr Mann and her families and to our great Affair families that are here this morning and all of you that are here to remember this commitment this morning I am grateful this morning to be here let us pray Our God and our father we do give you thanks we give you praise we thank you for this day why you said this is the day that I have made we will rejoice and be glad in it father we ask for your guidance throughout this day and holidays to come that will bind us with your love bless us in a special way every person that are here we have that you shower the only blessing upon us keep us and guide us and protect us bless our city bless our town and all those that are in thority we have the two bless us that we can live a peaceful life God we are depending upon you this morning we are going to bless all the families everywhere that are suffering this morning all the families that are going through this man who lost their loved ones CC families their children her grandchildren our uncle aunts our nieces and our nephews and our friends our classmate North poor peers who know her and acquainted with her each and every one of us this morning help us to remember this day God we are depending upon you you sound unless the blood build the house there that build it labor in vain unless the Lord keep the city The Watchman watch it but in vain father we asked to have mercy upon us this morning forgive us a follower sins help us to love each other help us this morning to come together I know America is in a tall man right now and she's breaking down her own house one big at a time from inside but God we are depending upon you this morning you say you'll never leave us you'll never forsake us you promised that you will build us always into the end of the age and we are standing on your word we are standing everywhere this morning because we're asking you to see us too bless each and every one of us this morning bless us in a special way keep us and guide us and protect us ing for us this morning we start so carefully to give your name the praise we give your name to Glory for all of it belongs to you and let the people of God said amen and amen thank you Reverend Baker now we will have the presentation of Colors by the American Legion Post 171 Fort Pierce police department Sheriff's Department fire department and First Responders what's that what ready oh right oh oh there right my time forward March we will now have the national anthem sung by Dr Katie Howard good morning um I love my cousin Cece she's a very um special person she's a good big cousin um my heart is racing I woke up a little horse three days ago but to God be the glory [Applause] beautiful beautiful thank you so much just perfect um our next is the presentation of Reese thank you sheriff's department and um St Lucie County um next is scholarship presentation Francis Watson are you here Francis Watson you have a scholarship presentation please come forward [Applause] good morning everyone good morning I'm here to present the Mills Family Sushi Ross Lyle scholarship and before I make my presentation I like to share just a little bit about our recipient and a little bit about CC I came out a couple of days ago um to just look back over the years and in my heart you know talked to my sister and my niece talked to Carrie Ross her mother talked to Shirley Adderley her mother talking with Cece and I was posed to challenge for my family and I like to share that challenge with you what do we do we know that those people on the plane on all the planes but we know that CeCe wasn't a fighter and I'm reminded of our community and what we can do one by one to make a difference in our community after today will we go back home and wait for next year I will be will we be able to say we made a difference in 2003 in 2004 before September 11th so I accept that challenge from my family and also from a member of our City Commissioner to do something stop talking and do something I challenge you to go forward with me and let's do something thank you [Applause] no that was not what I supposed to say today um our recipient of our scholarship is Mr Maynard Jaden graduated from Saint Andrews Episcopal Academy in 2023 with a 3.5 grade point average and more than 300 hours of community service Jaden would accept was accepted to several colleges including Morehouse College University of North Florida Florida a m University new College of Florida Saint Thomas University and Howard University of all these schools didn't selected the Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University where he is a Psychology major and a Florida bright bright future scholar Jaden plans have become a psychologist helping others with their Mental Health especially children and teens living with chronic physical health conditions Jaden is out is a cousin to Cece Ross Lyles he had attended his first 9 11 Memorial in Shanksville Pennsylvania when he was only one years old he has attended the memorial services right here in Fort Pierce for the past 10 years he is our recipient of the Mills Family CC Ross Lyles scholarship in the amount of 250 dollars this year and I like to present it to his mother judge to me congratulations Jayden um our next uh in the program is remarks by the family and we have several family members here and uh is Tony Ross here if you come forward [Applause] welcome thank you first I'd say thank you to God for being here and for everybody being here remembering my sister I just want to say that uh God is good and worthy to be praised I miss my sister CeCe but I love this deck when she was there and I love her now I want everybody to know that she deserves everything she's receiving I want everybody to know that God is good and we hope that everybody gets somebody out of the 90 level I know it comes up and it's hard to live with throughout the years but when it come up it's good to see all the people that participate in this in the programs and and want to be part of everything that's going on it's not it's not a thing that you just take pride in and take pride in being being here but you just you know you just have to sometimes my words get mixed up because I had a stroke a few years ago and and I'm I'm dealing with it but I'm just saying God's good God is good thanks for coming and we appreciate it and love you all thank you you're going to have a moment of silence at 10 10 and we're getting close to that but the next family member you might want to start but we might have to interrupt interrupt you Javon Javon are you here [Applause] castrillo I did it right okay thank you so much thank you I appreciate you yes ma'am good morning everybody um like my uncle says I want to thank God for being out here another day another uh breath in our lungs it's a beautiful day and it almost gives me chills every year because it reminds me of how calm and how relaxing of a day it was um on the actual day it happened 22 years ago and um I just want to share with you all just be grateful for the time that you have here on this Earth because you never know never know excuse me when it might when it might happen for you that uh recently I had an uncle pass away my father's side and um I spoke to my cousin my uncle's son and I asked him I said do you have any like regrets do you have any like anything you wish you could have done differently and he said to me he said you know what cause I really don't I really don't because my father really made me feel extremely loved every day he made sure that I knew that I was loved and right now I'm gonna speak to you all but I'm also speaking to myself okay we have to make sure our family members know we love them okay we can't go another day without speaking to them talking to them showing them love you know because we never like I said you never know you never know you wouldn't think 22 years ago at six years old that your life would be torn apart and like my uncle said we're still rebuilding and like my aunt said let's do it together let's do something let's continue the community I want to say thank you to the Sheriff's Department to the police department to the fire department to I want to say the Marines but I wanna I'm gonna have to double back on that I should say thank you to everybody I really appreciate every single year you guys coming out and really showing your support it really shows how tight-knit Fort Pierce is you know I want everybody to look around recognize each other's faces and continue to show that love and that neighborhood that neighborly type uh Community we have here today okay thank you so much [Applause] now it is perfect timing thank you please stand for a moment of silence 10 10 22 years ago a moment of silence for those who died thank you very much thank you very much we have another family member a friend of mine judge Shanique Maynard please come forward [Applause] so you know as I thought about my comments today um the first thing I want to say is to Javon Javon you are a living embodiment of your mother when you stand up here especially as you've grown you just exude her spirit so I just want to encourage you and make sure you know how very much you are loved by this family we love to see you growing we love to see you maturing and you just make us so so proud um you know so this is our 22nd year here celebrating and honoring those who died on 9 11. as I drove in this morning I thought to myself 22 years why do we do this year after year Well we do this to honor and remember our heroes we do this to honor and acknowledge the service of all of our First Responders who are here with us who um show your you show your heroism every day it doesn't take a holiday or a special day but every day you lay your lives on the line for us in this community and we thank you I want to acknowledge all of Cece's family members who are here if you are a family member of CC Ross Lyles please stand and be acknowledged I want to add to this group and ask her church family the members of 13th Street Church of God to also stand and be acknowledged [Applause] thank you so we come to remember and to honor the Fallen to acknowledge and to celebrate the sacrifices of our First Responders and we come to remember who we are because it was on that day that all of us regardless of race regardless of religion regardless of if your ancestors came here 350 years ago on a ship or in Chains or if your ancestors came here yesterday on that day of September 11th of 2001 we were all one blood One race One Nation the United States of America and so we come here year after year to remind ourselves and to never ever ever forget who we are as Americans and the last reason that we come here I believe is to teach our children and this year I'm so proud that Jaden was the recipient of the scholarship I have been intentional about bringing Jaden to this Memorial every year for at least the past 10 years and I wanted to read to you the essay that he wrote and his celebration and honoring of CC Ross Lyles so the question was who was Cece Ross Lyles and her impact on me by Jaden Maynard you never know how impactful your day-to-day activities can be for one cc Ross Lyle September 11th was just a regular day taking on her dream job as a flight attendant gave her the opportunity to prevent tragedy and submit her as an American Hero there are a few aspects of her life that truly resonate with me she was very strong and a brave woman who was family oriented and had a passion to help people she's the type of person I strive to be what she did with her life is inspirational both in regards to her Legacy on the national stage and what I know about her personally one aspect of Cece's personality that I love to hear about is her love for the people in her life my mom always talks about how excited she used to be to see her big cousin Cece who was a sweetheart and one of the best for her family I have gone to 9 11 Ceremonies for her each year and listened to many accounts from family who knew her when she was alive one thing is always a constant her nurturing spirit and drive to help people was a driving factor in who she was cc is also an inspiration because of what her and the other members of Flight 93 did In the Heat of a terrifying moment the passengers first realized that they were in danger after the lead hijacker Zaire Jara claimed there was a bomb on the plane in reality though the plan was for the plane to be crashed into the United States Capitol building as the passengers called their families the real intentions of the hijackers became apparent it's hard for me to imagine the situation they were in at that moment it was in those minutes that CeCe would call her husband I've listened to that phone call online and it taught me a lot about her you can hear her professionalism and her passion to do the job and what must be done in the calmness she shows at first but once she mentions her love for her family and her children her voice cracks as it settles for her just how final that call may be thousands of feet in the air with the fate of America in their hands it is impressive that they were able to do to stand in the face of death to prevent the 911 tragedy from becoming exponentially work worse her actions on that day inspire me to be brave in the most horrifying circumstances CeCe was a police officer and a flight attendant two careers where we don't often see black women she wasn't afraid to stand out especially when it came to serving her community there are a few things that have made me feel better growing up than being able to share with my class each year how my cousin Cece helped to save the country on 9 11. her Legacy is incredibly special and the memory of who she is shines through everyone who knew her while I can only hope to make a mark in history like she did her story encourages me to be the best I can be her love and courage Define her and that is the reason God put her on the plane that day on a day full of tragedy and hate it is heroism and love that she showed thank you thank you so much judge Maynard now I'd like to ask any elected official who would like to come up and introduce yourself please come forward and uh you know you can introduce yourself please and um you be mindful of how hot the weather is and so it's dangerous when you give somebody who's an elected official the microphone right so in any member any any elected official like to come forward please come forward yes you the Reverend Dr Donna Mills school board member is going to start us off well she already introduced me so I'm the Reverend Dr Donna Mills I have been a school board member since 2010. I want to thank each and every one of you that helped make that possible because I'm the first black female ever to serve on St Lucie County School Board because of you those of you that voted for me thank you so much I'm also the aunt of CC Wells good morning good morning Fort Pierce good morning family I just want to take moment to rise on behalf of the city commission commissioner Arnold Gaines commissioner Broderick Michael Broderick and commissioner Jeremiah Johnson we're led by honorable mayor Linda Hudson so it's our privilege to be here each and every year I'm rising not as an elected official but as a classmate of CC we were classmates the class of 85 and every year when we have our 85 reunion here in Fort Pierce we always start here with our classmate who was loved it was unique back in that time when we were coming up because we were all together up until we split to go to high schools which is either Central or Westwood and so we keep our continuity as a class of 85 and many of those classes after that to always start here no matter Central no matter Westwood we always start with the class of 85 and no matter where I'm at in the world if I've been in Phoenix Arizona I've been in Chicago I've been in New York I always find my classmates named etchton Stone and pay homage so this morning see I Rise not as a City Commissioner but as your classmate to say job well done we're so proud of you at the class of the class of 85. thank you for your ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms thank you God bless you all foreign County Commissioner for district one I'm also representing the fire department as the vice chair today and Stephanie Morgan and the entire Board of the fire district I'd also like to uh welcome you by chairman Kathy Townsend and the board of County Commissioners and thank you for being here today and representing uh what you see as an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of so many as I was trying to think about what if I was asked to speak what would I talk about and I talked about what I'm thinking about is is and maybe it's a Common Thread that I heard some folks say is our history is is pretty pretty interesting pretty difficult times you know in World War II Japan attacked us uh in a secret mission which killed thousands of individuals it was a secret attack by a former for foreign enemy later on in our history we were attacked by a domestic terrorist at the Oklahoma bombing where hundreds of people were killed including many children surely thereafter we were attacked the first time at the World Trade Center by a bombing by a foreign terrorist as we pass forward we have four aircraft in 2001 that were taken over by terrorists of a foreign nature as a flight attendant at the time I represent the association of flight attendants then and I am speaking on their behalf today and saying thank you for recognizing those folks lost so as a flight attendant knowing what we go through and what we've trained for those flight attendants and those Pilots were were absolutely positively taken by surprise why is that important because there's always somebody out there planning in secret to attack what we know is deer and that is our democracy our democracy our democracy has been under Fire since the time of 1776 when we signed the Declaration of Independence and created an opportunity for us all to be free and have an opportunity to be whatever we wanted to be wherever we wanted to be there it's important that we continue to think about our democracy as we find the challenges of today and tomorrow the 40 people on that airplane flight 93 learned about what was happening around them they had a heads up they weren't as surprised as the others they were able to stand by speak about the issue take a vote where is that important today take a vote stand up have a voice take a vote and they voted to save the capital or the White House but as importantly our democracy so God bless Cece and all those who've been lost I know it's hot I just want to say thank you so much any other elected officials thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us um now we'll have a special presentation by the American Legion Post 173. all right foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] thank you American Legion Post 171. now we'll have closing remarks by the Reverend Dr Kenneth Mills senior he is CeCe's uncle yeah wow you know after 22 years I still get emotional and um just thinking about where I was that day thinking about the phone call that we got and when the realization came to us that my CC was on that plane possibly it's heartbreaking you know your children are not supposed to die before their parents you know that's what we've always been taught and learned fast forward at the 10th year anniversary I was in Shanksville Pennsylvania where the first time in the history of my life I had a chance to hear from four American presidents on the same day President Clinton was there President Bush was there Barack Obama was there and the fourth president he was there and I remember how they all responded and declared at the time they had not built the complete monument in Shanksville Pennsylvania for all of those that were on that plane and how they declared as it's already been said you know I thank God today I thank God that he allowed me to be born here in this nation this great nation that we call America and the Great American Spirit how those folks on that plane that day in the 10th anniversary how it was declared that there was a hundred and fifty senators in the Capitol building and if those folks on that plane had not come up with Let's Roll they all might have been killed I just thank God for that American Spirit that moves through all of us and that moves even today as we celebrate all over this great nation Our Heroes and in closing I just wanna reiterate what's been said today let's do something that makes a positive difference no matter who you are and no matter what fear you're in let's do something that makes a positive and before I bring my precious wife up Dr Donna Mills to sing CeCe's mom this is Adeline and her husband William adley or in Shanksville today and she asked me to please make sure I thank everyone Amir Amir our city officials our County officials our First Responders the sheriff's department our Police Department come on y'all let's show them a little love let them know we appreciate the work that they do as judge Nana say every day they put their lives on the line for us and I want to thank those of you that came out today and I just want to offer up a closing benediction and blessing as my my precious wife Donna Mills come to sing Lord we just thank you so much thank you for your goodness and your mercy and your grace and your love that you've shed it upon this great nation that we call America and Lord we thank you for the American Spirit that moves through us to do something and most of all Lord I want to thank you for the precious Holy Spirit that's moving right now on the lives of everyone that's here and we pray God as we prepare to depart from this ceremony we pray for traveling mercies we pray for safety and we pray God that the Holy Spirit would put it in each and every heart to do something in America to make a positive difference we thank you and we praise you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we ask these blessings and all God's people said amen amen and on behalf of uh Saint Lucie County School Board and our superintendent we too are grateful that we can play a part in this uh special day where we are honoring see Ross but we are also honoring every last person that is willing to give your life to keep our country free and to keep our country on the path of success that's what it's all about so thank you thank you for each of you that played a part today we have our media Department here it is being the school district it will be recorded and it will be played in our media department so that all of our accounting can see that we're here to honor our heroes so this concludes our program thank you all so much for coming and braving the Heat and celebrating the life of Cece and all those who died on 9 11. thank you very much