Naval Station Everett’s Greater Northwest Chief Petty Officers Association hosted a Patriot Day memorial service at Jackson Plaza Sept. 11.

Following the benediction by NSE Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Edwin Carroll, guest speaker Capt. Thomas Mascolo, commanding officer, spoke of historic images that have become ingrained in our minds.

“For all of us, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, will forever live in our memories. We shall never forget the images of planes flying into the World Trade Center or the smoke rising from the Pentagon,” said Mascolo. “We shall never forget the courage and compassion of men and women racing into burning buildings to save the innocent or those heroes who died in a Pennsylvania field.”

Mascolo went on to describe Americaís responsibility to the world, and said that the United States must be ready for the long haul.

“We Americans are uniquely positioned, diplomatically, economically, militarily and morally to lead the fight against the scourge of terrorism and to be the proponent of human freedoms,” he said. “I think we not only have the opportunity, but we have the responsibility.”

Following the guest speaker, members of NSE’s fire department and security force presented a wreath in remembrance of those who died that day seven years before.

The service’s master of ceremonies, Chief Damage Controlman (sel) Ernest Thomas, closed the ceremony with a quote from President George W. Bush that summed up the theme of Patriot Day.

“A terrorist attack designed to tear us apart has instead bound us together as a nation,” quoted Thomas.