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Big Picture freshman marks Sept. 11 attacks

Observation honors victims of terrorism
Tanner Benally, 15, a ninth-grader at Big Picture School, leads the Pledge of Allegiance after raising a flag with the names of people who were killed during the Sept. 11 attacks. Behind Tanner is Dreher Robertson, left, an adviser at Big Picture, and Alain Henery, principal of Big Picture.

Tanner Benally might have been still in diapers on Sept. 11, 2001, but he and his parents have observed the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., as long as he can remember.

Tanner, now a freshman at Big Picture High School, marked the anniversary in his manner Thursday with a two-minute ceremony in front of the entrance to the Durango School District 9-R Administration Building.

Standing under a commemorative flag bearing the names of 2,977 people who perished in the four airplanes involved in the al-Qaida attacks, Tanner said, “We are hanging this special edition flag that contains the names of all the men, women and children that perished so needlessly that day.

“While my generation may not have vivid memories of the attacks on 9/11, we will never forget the courage and sacrifice that unified our nation that day.”

Tanner asked for a moment of silence and then led a handful of observers in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The number of dead doesn’t include the terrorists, Tanner said just before the ceremony.

Nineteen al-Qaida recruits hijacked four airliners on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Planes were flown into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in the nation’s capital.

The fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers.

Tanner, the son of Rebecca and Virgil Tanner, was home-schooled and attended Escalante Middle School.

He bought the commemorative flag used Thursday three years ago.

daler@durangoherald.com



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