Greendale Event Marking 20 Years Since 9/11 Planned

GREENDALE, WI — As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Americans who are old enough will remember exactly where they were that day.

Americans felt a collective trauma as one and then another plane flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. As the truth dawned on people watching from their TVs that America was under attack, another plane took aim at the Pentagon. A fourth was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania in a final act of heroism by passengers who realized their flight had been hijacked.

Nearly 3,000 Americans, including 10 from Wisconsin, were killed in the suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida.

Those that remember may have vivid images and memories of that day.

Others, especially those born into a post-9/11 world, do not remember first-hand the events that changed the course of their own America. A generation of Americans relies on the stories, ceremonies and mourning from their parents, teachers and communities to understand what 9/11 is.

In Greendale, an event has been planned to honor and remember the fallen from 9/11. It will be held Saturday morning at the Greendale Fire House, located at 5911 W Grange Avenue, according to the village website.

At 8:10 a.m., the Fire Department will bring out its rigs, or trucks. Soon after, Fire Chief Kenten Kais will give a message.

At 8:23 a.m., the Department will lead a salute and a minute of silence. At 9 a.m. the event will move to American Legion Post 416, located at 6321 W Grange Avenue.

At the 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan, New York — an area known for years after the attacks as "Ground Zero" — the names of the fallen will be read aloud.

"Throughout the ceremony, we will observe six moments of silence, acknowledging when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell and the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93," the 9/11 Memorial & Museum wrote on its website.
The annual "Tribute of Light," which are lights pointed to the sky in the shape of the Twin Towers, will go on that night.

Related:

Remembering 9/11 Victims From Wisconsin 20 Years Later