Salem To Hold 20th Anniversary 9-11 Ceremony At Fire Headquarters

SALEM, MA — Salem will host a 9-11 annual remembrance ceremony honoring the 25 Salem-area residents killed in the terrorist attacks on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

The public is invited to the ceremony set for 9:30 a.m. at the Salem Fire Department headquarters at 48 Lafayette Street.

"The Salem Fire Department has commemorated this tragedy annually and has erected a permanent memorial at the fire station, which includes a piece of the steel beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center tower," Salem Fire Chief Alan Dionne noted.

This year's ceremony will include remarks from Mayor Kim Driscoll, State Sen. Joan Lovel and State Rep. Paul Tucker.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton will read the names of the 25 Salem-area victims of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

"This day is especially poignant for Salem as several of our own firefighters were part of FEMA's Massachusetts Urban Search and Rescue Task Force deployed to Ground Zero in New York on that tragic day," Driscoll said. "Our nation will never forget this devasting act of terrorism and, by commemorating this day every year as have done, we never will."

Members of the city's fire and police departments, as well as local veterans, will be part of the solemn ceremony, which will also include the Salem High School U.S. Marine Corps Jr. ROTC, whose members will post the colors.

A wreath will be placed at the memorial and "Taps" will be played.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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