Note: The title of this story has been modified for better clarity and conciseness.
Originally published in the Platte County Record-Times September 22, 2021
WHEATLAND — On September 11 in front of the Platte County Courthouse in Wheatland, a remembrance ceremony was held to honor the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
The ceremony began at 10:30 in the morning. A flag raising of the United States national flag and the Wyoming state flag was conducted by the members of Boy Scout Troop 47 and Pack 47.
Both flags were flown at half-staff during the ceremony. A recital of the Pledge of Allegiance followed the flag raising.
After the Pledge, a performance of the National Anthem was held. The song was accompanied by the West Elementary School Signers.
After these events, Pastor Chris Furl of Memorial Baptist Church gave a prayer over the ceremony.
The first speaker of the event was Steve Shockley, the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, who delivered a short welcome speech.
After Shockley, the next speaker was Kinley Anderson, a Junior level student from Ten Sleep, Wyoming. Anderson was the winner of the VFW’s 2020-2021 Voice of Democracy competition.
The national Voice of Democracy contest allows high school students a chance to earn educational scholarships. This is achieved by requiring participants to submit a recorded essay in response to a prompt.
Anderson’s speech was also her speech for the Voice of Democracy prompt, which was “Is this the country the Founders Envisioned?”
Anderson’s answer to this prompt was no. She then cited the inability to debate important political issues without repercussions among her reasons as to why she believed this was the case.
After the speech by Anderson, the Alan Jackson song “Where were you when the world stopped Turning,” was played. The third speaker was William Deglman.
William Deglman is presently the Safety Coordinator for the Laramie River Station of Basin Electric Cooperative. He served in the U.S. Army before moving to South Dakota, then Wheatland.
“I was a corrections officer in South Dakota for a while and then I came to Wheatland in 1997,” said Deglman. “I was with the Wheatland Police Department until about 2014.”
“In 1999 while I was on the police department I joined the Wheatland Volunteer Fire Department and I’ve been on there to this day.”
In 2001, Deglman was recovering from a night shift of the previous day when he learned about what happened.
“I was actually sleeping and my wife woke me up and saw the events unfolding,” said Deglman. “The first tower had already been struck when I was sleeping.”
“So when I got up, I went into my kitchen and I literally sat and looked at a 13-inch television. It was so shocking that I just stood there and watched everything unfold in my kitchen.”
When Deglman finished his speech, the song “Wind beneath my Wings,” by Bette Midler played. The final speaker for the ceremony was Kathy Wright.
Kathy Wright is a former Brigadier General in the Wyoming Army National Guard, serving for almost 40 years and six months.
“I joined in 1973 when the Guard first started taking females,” said Wright. “I never had intention of staying beyond my initial enlistment, but the Guard offered opportunities and challenges that I found very exciting.”
Wright presently serves on the Governors Probation and Parole Board and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve as its Chair. She is also involved in many other organizations.
“My parents taught me that service is a good thing,” said Wright. “And from the time I was six or seven years old, we were active with the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary.”
Wright had gone into work early that day in 2001. “It was a very sobering day and a very unsettling day,” she remembers.
“I went to work early and was in my office at six o’ clock that morning,” said Wright. “And pretty soon people in the building started talking about planes crashing into the Pentagon and the towers.”
To close the ceremony, a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace,” was played.
James Meyer 