Baxter County residents will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks with a memorial ceremony Saturday in downtown Mountain Home. The entire community is invited to attend the ceremony.
The program, which is presented by the Baxter County Fire Chiefs Association and Baxter County first responders, will begin at 11 on the Veterans Memorial Plaza across from the courthouse.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists weaponized four commercial jets by hijacking the planes and crashing them into buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C. Two planes struck the World Trade Center complex in New York, ultimately destroying the iconic Twin Towers. Another plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon in Washington, and the fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks and more than 6,000 others were injured. The death toll included 265 people aboard the four airplanes involved in the attacks, a total of 2,606 people in the World Trade Center and the surrounding area, and 125 at the Pentagon.
Of the almost 3,000 people killed during the attacks, 343 were fire fighters, 72 were law enforcement officers and 55 were military personnel.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery will deliver the opening remarks at Saturday’s event. The keynote speaker will be retired New York City fire fighter Joseph Russo, who served as captain of FDNY’s Engine Company 254 in Brooklyn.
Gassville Fire Chief Mike Glotzl talks about Capt. Russo.
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Saturday’s ceremony will open with the Mountain Home High School Junior ROTC program posting the colors and members of the Bomber band performing the national anthem and other songs. A flag of honor will be presented to Baxter County’s first responders to be displayed at the Baxter County Fire Training Center.
A bell ceremony, symbolically signifying a fire fighter’s final call out and response, will be conducted as part of the ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the county’s first responders and their families will attend an appreciation luncheon at the Baxter County Fairgrounds. That event will be private and will not be open to the public.
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