The public is invited to the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday morning at the gazebo on the courthouse lawn in Washington C.H., rain or shine.
On Wednesday, Fayette County’s first responders and leaders will remember the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Starting at 9 a.m., a brief service will be held at the gazebo, located on the courthouse lawn near the sheriff’s office. Last year, Melissa Havens, director of the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), said the plan is to continue this small ceremony each year in remembrance of the tragic events from that day. Then every five years, a longer, more involved ceremony will take place.
“Wednesday at 9 a.m. we will be remembering 9/11, which I think is very appropriate for the community to do,” Washington Court House City Manager Joe Denen said. “It is a nice ceremony and gives people a nice and respectful way to remember. I think it is very characteristic of small town America.”
Members of the Fayette County Veterans Service Commission, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Washington C.H. Police Department, Fayette County EMS, Washington C.H. Fire/Rescue and Fayette County EMA, as well as the City of Washington Court House and Fayette County Commissioners will all be involved for the ceremony. All organizations encouraged the community to come out for the ceremony that will honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 18 years ago.
Last year, Denen welcomed the crowd and took a moment to give a brief timeline of events of the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 during the ceremony.
“At 7:59 a.m., American Airlines flight 11 left Boston headed for Los Angeles. Twenty minutes into the flight, flight attendants alert ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked,” Denen said. “At 8:14 a.m., United Airlines flight 175 left Boston also headed for Los Angeles. The flight is also hijacked. At 8:20 a.m., American Airlines flight 77 takes off from Dallas International Airport headed for Los Angeles as well. At 8:41 a.m., United Airlines flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport en route to San Francisco. It has been scheduled to depart in the a.m. around the time of the other hijacked planes, and it is also hijacked. At 8:46 a.m., the hijackers aboard flight 11 crash the plane into floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building. At 9:03 a.m., hijackers crash flight 175 into floors 75 through 85 of the World Trade Center South Tower, also killing everyone on board and hundreds inside the building.”
Before noon, America would watch as both towers collapsed, another hijacked plane would strike the Pentagon and one more flight would crash in a field in Pennsylvania killing all crew members and passengers on board. In total 2,977 people would be killed in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania during the terrorist attacks, with various first responders perishing as they helped to contain the chaos of the attack.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
