CITY FOCUS:Home of the brave

As a giant American flag hung from a fire engine, waving in the ocean breeze, hundreds of residents gathered on the steps at Pier Plaza Tuesday to remember the nearly 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11, as well as the country’s soldiers and veterans.

Public officials, veterans’ groups and members of the military spoke on the meaning of the 2001 terrorist attacks, praising the public safety workers on the front lines of any such disaster. But the city’s official Patriot Day observance also honored the city’s first responders, as Huntington Beach named its Officers of the Year.

One employee each from Huntington Beach Police and Fire Departments, and Marine Safety was honored with an Officer of the Year award from department officials. Capt. Michael Perry was named Firefighter of the Year, Officer Ed Clair was named Police Officer of the Year, and Officer John Elser was named Marine Safety Officer of the Year.

Huntington Beach Police Capt. Bill Stuart noted that for the police officers and firefighters who rushed into the World Trade Center on 9/11, it was by no means the first time they had risked their lives in the line of duty.

“Most of them did it day after day, week after week, even year after year,” he said. “They kept coming to work doing their jobs.”

Fire Chief Duane Olson said Huntington Beach was blessed with a top-notch public safety team. But he also spoke in awe of the carnage faced on 9/11, especially the hundreds of firefighters and officers killed as they responded to the attacks.

“Of the firefighters we have employed today in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, that would take all of them,” Olson said.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said America was uniquely a target for terrorism because of its freedoms, but that the country was up to the challenge.

“The evil forces on this planet will always target us because we are the best of humankind,” he said. “Let us pray it doesn’t happen again, but as long as we are the land of the free and the home of the brave we will face these challenges.”

But the message most shaped by those challenges came from Staff Sgt. Anthony Alvarado of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, the city’s adopted battalion. Home from Iraq due to injury, he thanked residents for their support and said his battalion would go back to Kuwait this week, returning to Camp Pendleton Nov. 20.

“I look here and see all you people, and I’m flabbergasted at the support I see,” Alvarado said. “Not only for public safety, but for the military, and of course for the 3/1 Marines. I hope this is happening all over this country today.”