Sept. 11, 2001 will be remembered with two local Patriot Day events Wednesday morning

Cadets in Georgia Southern University's ROTC Eagle Battalion navigate the upper deck while scenes from news broadcasts and photographs from 9/11 play on the screen at Paulson Stadium during the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb on Monday, Sept 11. The run replicates the 110 flights of stairs in the Twin Towers. (SCOTT BRYANT/staff)

9/11 climb — Cadets in Georgia Southern University's ROTC Eagle Battalion navigate the upper deck while scenes from news broadcasts and photographs from 9/11 play on the screen at Paulson Stadium during the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb on Monday, Sept 11. The run replicates the 110 flights of stairs in the Twin Towers. (SCOTT BRYANT/staff)

The Statesboro Fire Department, in cooperation with the Statesboro Police Department, will hold its brief, annual Patriot Day ceremony at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11 at the porch in front of the Police Department headquarters, 25 W. Grady St. It is open to the public.

This year’s simple observance will include such traditional elements as a wreath presentation, lowering of the flags and ringing of a bell and brief remarks in memory of all the Americans, including many firefighters and other first responders, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by terrorists who hijacked four airliners. Two of the planes, with passengers onboard, were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, also killing all aboard, after passengers intervened.

As upper floors of the World Trade Center were engulfed in flames, firefighters ran toward the danger and continued to enter the buildings and bring other people out until the towers collapsed on all remaining inside.

“It’s a quick, simple ceremony, just a time to take a few moments out of everybody’s day and remember those events back in 2001,” said Statesboro Fire Chief Tim Grams. “I think it’s important to do this even as the years pass … to take a few moments to remember all of the lives lost and all of the sacrifices made that day from our public safety folks.”

Earlier Wednesday morning at Paulson Stadium, the Eagle Battalion of the Reserve Officer Training Corps from Georgia Southern University is scheduled to hold its sixth annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Each wearing a badge with the name and photo of someone lost in the attacks, ROTC cadets climb the stairs through the stadium to replicate the 110 flights of stairs in the Twin Towers. Start time is 5:45 a.m.

Campus veterans, local law enforcement and local fire departments are also invited to participate in the event, according to a notice on the university’s Military Science webpage. Those wishing to participate may call the GS Department of Military Science at 912-478-5320 or email arainey@GeorgiaSouthern.edu.

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