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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- It was an emotional day at the Air Force Academy Friday as cadets remember their own and 9/11.

Two ceremonies were held, the first a homecoming memorial honoring graduates who died in the past year, the second a dedication of a 9/11 memorial containing a piece of the World Trade Center.

Seventy four names were called, each belonging to an Air Force Academy graduate who died in the past year.

While many belonged to class members of years past, current cadets said they all share a common bond.

"These four years are so impactful to who we are, and they change us and mold us in so many ways that grads from '59 have something in common with grads from 2011, 2012," Cadet Col. Samantha Reep said.

After each name was called their Cadet Squadron Commander responded with an "absent ma'am."

Speakers said friends and family of those gone should know that they will always live on at the academy.

"We pause to honor those who said yes to long blue line, those who said yes to their country, those who said yes to the Constitution."

After an emotional memorial ceremony, cadets and visitors gathered at the site of a new 9/11 memorial.

"We all remember where we were and what we were doing on Sept. 11, 2001," Lt. Gen. Mike Gould said to the crowd.

The memorial contains a piece from the World Trade Center and stands on a base in the shape of the Pentagon.

One side is fractured and unpolished representing the side of the building that was hit 10 years ago.

Two fractured and broken towers represent the fallen Twin Towers which hold up a floor beam from the World Trade Center.

Current cadets were around eight years old in 2001, and while most did not fully understand the tragedy at the time, many said it was that day that called them to serve.

"It made me realize that there's a big world out there, you know, we need to protect ourselves, we need to help other people. That kind of just strengthened my resolve to serve," Reep said.

Gould said he hopes the memorial serves as a constant reminder for cadets of why they serve and those closest to the destruction that day share the same hope.

"They should never forget," April Russell whose husband was a first responder on 9/11, said.

"America was attacked by a demon. We should never forget," she said.