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Never forget: Chattanooga National Cemetery honors fallen heroes with headstone cleanup

September 11, 2024

News Channel 9 Chattanooga

By: Fallon Howard

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The attacks on September 11th, 2001 were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. And people all across the world today are honoring the fallen heroes.

National non-profit director Matt Fryman of Carry the Load focuses on one aspect and says, “Freedom’s not free.”

“I would say that freedom’s not free. I think that day is a great example of, you know, we get to live in a country that that’s not the norm, right? It’s not normal to have something like that happen to where lives are lost from a different country, a different entity, whatever that may be; that’s a normal day in Iraq to where lives are lost every day, said Matt Fryman, Carry the Load’s Marketing Director “

Matt Fryman says that 9/11 has humbled him and given him a deeper understanding after his own personal experience with family in the military. He also adds that being able to talk with family members who have lost someone puts a face to a name.

“I did not truly understand the significance because, again, it wasn’t really taught in school. My father served in the Air Force, so I was able to have that recognition of it, but again, it still didn’t have the impact that it should have had in my life. So being a part of carry the load opened my eyes to the sacrifice that is made, day in, day out, said Matt Fryman, Carry the Load’s Marketing Director “

In observance of Patriot Day, volunteers will clean headstones and beautify hallowed grounds at 67 National Cemeteries across the nation. More than 40 have already registered at Chattanooga National Cemetery, and 2,000 nationwide.

View the full story here.

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Never forget: Chattanooga National Cemetery honors fallen heroes with headstone cleanup

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