(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)—On September 11, 2001, Delaware County Community College Veteran Services Coordinator Michael Shultz was a young U.S. Coast Guardsman aboard the Bainbridge Island, a small ship ordered to report to the waters surrounding Lower Manhattan at “best speed.”

On September 11, 2026, Shultz led the College’s commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11 alongside Director of Campus Engagement Allyson Gleason. The day commenced at 9 a.m. with Shultz’s opening remarks at the flagpoles in front of Founders Hall, where DCCC community members gathered to remember that fateful morning.

Then, staff and faculty assembled near a tree planted in 2002 on campus to commemorate the day’s tragic events, observing a moment of silence at 10:02, when Flight 93 crashed in an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Shultz and Gleason handed out 25 flags to those assembled, which they planted in the ground surrounding the tree. There was a screening of the short documentary 25 Years Later and a poster presentation, both courtesy of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Shultz and his former colleague Daniel Wenger then shared their memories of the event from their perspective as U.S. Coast Guardsmen aboard the Bainbridge Island, which arrived early on the morning of September 12. They recounted the poignant, eerie and sad sights and smells of New York during the first days and weeks after the attacks—including boats filled with evacuated workers and residents of Lower Manhattan, hopeful family members searching for loved ones, and the endless dust and debris that had settled over everything.

As they concluded their memories of the somber anniversary, the two former Coast Guardsmen ended with an important takeaway from the day: the resilience and esprit de corps they observed among the people of New York. Said Shultz, “It is something we will never forget.”

Photo caption: DCCC’s Michael Shultz (L) and Allyson Gleason hand out flags to be planted.