Sept. 11, 2001 started out as a seemingly peaceful, beautiful late summer morning that resulted in the tragic loss of nearly 3,000 lives.

On a similar perfect morning, exactly one year later, hundreds of people gathered on the South Quad to honor the victims of and the heroic first responders to the terrorist attacks.

Students, faculty and administrators, as well as Charleston residents, stood silently around the South Quad flagpole for “Eastern Remembers 9/11,” the first of three ceremonies on campus Wednesday.

The service began at 8:40 a.m. with the arrival of law enforcement personnel, city firefighters and representatives of the department of military science.

A somber silence fell over the crowd as two officers raised the flag.

At 8:45 a.m., the exact moment on the East Coast in which American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, a single siren was sounded.

The flag was then lowered to half-mast as Roger Stoner, professor of music, played “Taps” on his trumpet.

Eighty flags representing the various countries who also lost citizens in the attacks were unveiled by delegates of Eastern’s international student population.

Some members of the crowd wept, others saluted, but all remained silent.

Following the ceremony, volunteers lined up and began reading off the names of the deceased, and the mass of grieving people slowly dispersed.

Sarah Getz, a senior at the Lakeview School of Nursing, came out to pay her respects on the anniversary of a day she described as surreal.

“I still don’t believe it,” Getz said. “I’m honored as an American to be here and be a part of this.”

Mark Lewis, junior finance major, said he felt an indescribable need to attend the service.

“This is very nice,” Lewis said. “I’m glad that Eastern is taking the time to recognize that we had such a tragedy on this day.”

The university was also represented well at the ceremony by faculty members and administrators, including interim President Lou Hencken.

“I thought the turnout was excellent, and the coordinators did an excellent job. It was a very moving presentation,” Hencken said as he waited his turn to read names.

David Onestak, director of the counseling center and co-organizer of the service, predicted the readings would go on for a few hours.

Both Hencken and Onestak planned to attend the evening services, which featured a multi-media presentation both men raved about.

“It’s very powerful,” Onestak said of the montage of Sept. 11 images from the presentation. “It made me cry when I watched it in my office by myself.”