UK ROTC honors lives lost at 9/11 memorial vigil

The University of Kentucky Army and Air Force ROTC programs and Pershing Rifles hosted the annual 9/11 Memorial Vigil on Friday. Cadets read the names of the people who died during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the front lawn of the Main Building beginning at 8:46 a.m. to mark the moment when the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City. “We gather here today to give tribute to those who have fallen to acts of terrorism and war,” Zachary Kuchle, a senior majoring in finance and company commander for Pershing Rifles said. “The price of freedom is a great one, and members of the University of Kentucky Pershing Rifles, the Army and Air Force ROTC programs are here to give the proper respect and honor to a nation that was disturbed by terror.” Thousands of U.S. flags were placed on the Main Building lawn along the walkways and formed the number “25” to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Kuchle said each flag represented the life of an individual who died on 9/11. Another cadet acted as a guard marching around the flag pole on the front lawn as names were read to honor those who died in operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. “You may have heard the saying that a person dies twice, the first time is when they die in life, the second is the last time their name is spoken,” Kuchle said. “So every year, we go out and we read all the names of everyone to keep their memory alive.” Both the ROTC member reading names and the one circling the flag switched out every 30 minutes throughout the event. Kuchle said the opportunity to put on the event and remember the lives lost made him feel honored. “When I think back on it, I hear a lot about how it was a very tragic event, but the country really came together afterwards, and that’s the big thing that stands out to me,” Kuchle said. UK Army ROTC Zach Kuchle says the names of people who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11 during the 9/11 memorial vigil on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Scout Tarquinio | Kentucky Kernel (Scout Tarquinio) People from the Lexington Fire Department were in attendance at the event, watching the names being read. One of them was Michael Kamphake, a firefighter who was a student at UK during 9/11. “It’s one of those monumental moments in your life that you never forget,” Kamphake said. “It’s refreshing to see that 25 years later, people are still standing out in the rain and reading every name.” Kamphake said the display of flags put into perspective the amount of lives lost during the attacks. “You really can’t conceive the number of people that passed on that day or passed afterwards,” he said. Looking back 25 years later, Kamphake said he still remembers everything that happened the day of the attacks from where he was to the people he knew in New York who he was thinking about at the time. Kamphake said that for him, the vigil not only serves as a reminder of the lives lost but a reminder to be in the present moment and reflect. “Society today doesn’t stay in the moment, we’ve always got to move on to the next thing, but when someone can stop and reflect for be it a minute, be it an hour … it’s pretty good,” Kamphake said. Kelly Cervenec Spears, a lecturer in the College of Social Work, was a freshman at Hanover College in Indiana on Sept. 11. “The significance, I think, was waking up and seeing on my big old desktop computer, because it was 25 years ago, the pictures and how unreal it was and hearing the sounds,” Spears said. “I can still remember the sounds of everyone with CNN and the different news stations, I can still remember the sound echoing up and down the dorm hallways.” Spears said she felt it was important to come to the event and recognize the 25th anniversary and reflect for even a small amount of time. “I’m usually not here on Fridays, but I’m glad I needed to come to campus today so I could be a part of this,” Spears said. Considering the effect Sept. 11 had on the country, Spears said life was changed for everyone in terms of national security and safety. Events like the vigil serve to give people a communal place to mourn, Spears said. “We can all remember in our cars or in our homes or watching TV and documentaries … but vigils like this, it gives the community a chance to be together and remember and recognize that I’m not the only person thinking about this today and remembering this today,” Spears said. As students walked past the vigil, Spears said she found it striking that most students did not experience Sept. 11. “I think that it’s pretty remarkable as I was watching these two soldiers up here who were probably born after 9/11 still giving it the same attention and depth of feeling that I think those of us who witnessed it have,” Spears said. Kuchle said he hoped the vigil would be significant to not only people who stop to reflect but also students passing by. “I hope they just remember,” Kuchle said. “For those that were alive then, they remember that day and the tragedy so that we never forget those people.”