Pope remembers 9/11 Published Sept. 18, 2009 By 2nd Lt. Cammie Quinn 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE N.C. -- The events of 9/11 are not soon forgotten, least of all by Pope Airmen. In the early morning of Sept. 11, Team Pope gathered to remember the tragedy during a memorial at the Pope Air Park. Col. James Johnson, 43rd Airlift Wing Commander, gave a speech to honor all of the victims, families and heroes of that fateful day, and the Pope Honor Guard posted colors during the ceremony as well. An ominous toll sounded at the time of the plane crashes as a reminder that while the nation has risen above the tragedy of that day and has come together as a whole, the events of 9/11 will remain in our memory forever. Across the way, at the Luzon Drop Zone near McCall Airfield, teams of Air Force and Army members assembled for their own way of recognizing the victims of 9/11. Pope and Fort Bragg came together to conduct a joint forces memorial jump. Static and freefall jumps were conducted from altitudes of 1,250 feet and 12,500 feet respectively. Several jumps were conducted as the C-130 made continuous "green to blue" (ground to air) trips. "It's a way to honor those who died that day and everyone who has died since then," Senior Airman Cody McNorton, 14th Air Support Operations Squadron, said of the 9/11 Memorial Jump, which was his first jump since jump school.