Veterans Hold 9/11 Commemoration Friday at Market Square

Under a clear azure sky, remarkably the same as it was 14 years ago, several hundred people gathered in Alexandria’s Market Square to commemorate and reflect on the date when terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and slammed into the Pentagon, killing nearly 4,000 Americans.

John D. Sims, the key organizer of the event, told the gathering: “Today is an opportunity for us all to give back and to remember those who served and sacrificed on that date, and since. Each of us today is not just a witness, but also a participant, as we all were on 9-11.” A retired Army officer, Sims was the senior operations officer in the National Military Command Center on that day.

Also speaking were Mayor Bill Eullie, Alexandria Fire Chief Robert Dube, former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who was in office on 9/11.

Several dozen members of the audience also took advantage of Sims’ invitation to come onstage and share their thoughts about 9/11 and what that day has meant to them.

Others taking part in the ceremony included Alexandria’s American Legion Post 24, the Capitol Post, Team RWB and other veterans, as well as to the city’s Fire, Police and Sheriff’s departments, and to other organizations and individuals.

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon. Fifty-nine passengers and crew on board the plane lost their lives that day, along with 125 military and civilian personnel at the Pentagon. They were among the nearly 3,000 people killed in attacks on the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and on a plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pa., that day.

Of the 184 people who died at the Pentagon on September 11, Alexandria was home to 11 of them, according to The Washington Post.

Following are the names of the 11 victims from our community who died on Sept. 11, 2001. The hyperlink at each person’s name leads to that person’s complete biography on the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial web page.

• Eddie A. Dillard
• Capt. Robert Edward Dolan Jr.
• Diane M. Hale-McKinzy
• Steven D. Jacoby
• Terence M. Lynch
• Maj. Clifford L. Patterson Jr.
• Cmdr. Robert Allan Schlegel
• (Retired) Lt. Col. Gary F. Smith
• Norma Lang Steuerle
• Sandra C. Taylor
• Meta L. Waller

Many observed a moment of silence Friday at 9:37 a.m., the time the plane hit the Pentagon. At 10 a.m., the Alexandria Fire Department was set to observe a moment of silence. All City employees and the entire Alexandria community were invited to join.