Warsaw Observes 11th Anniversary of 9/11
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
Kosciusko County 9/11 Committee organized the 10th annual 9/11 Remembrance ceremony at the 9/11 memorial outside Center Lake Pavilion.
The memorial was established in 2009 to remember Indiana law enforcement who died in the line of duty, and to remember those who died during the terrorist attacks.
The memorial was constructed through monetary and fundraising donations.
Mike Cox, 9/11 committee co-chair, said in his open remarks that the 9/11 committee’s mission is to not only provide a permanent reminder of the 9/11 tragedy, but also encourage patriotism and recovery.
Cox thanked local, state and the nation’s first responders as well as the military for their service.
Cox said 9/11 was an act of war committed by radical Islamists and the goal of the attacks were to shock and demoralize the citizens of the United States and the government.
“I think they were misinformed because they thought we would cave in and didn’t believe we had the backbone to stand up to them,” Cox said. “It is important to remember what happened, the tragedy and triumphs we felt after one of the worst days of our nation.”
He said there were triumphs and although there was suffering, he said Americans know how to heal.
Indiana Guard Reserve presented the colors; Brad Kellar, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy, sang the National Anthem and local singer Ivory West also sang.
Warsaw Boy Scout Troop 715 led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance and Ken Locke, 9/11 committee member, provided a prayer. Locke prayed for the country, government, the troops, and local and national law enforcement.
“Our country remains a shelter of peace, a symbol of freedom, a beacon light of compassion and justice to the downtrodden and oppressed of the world,” Locke said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer was the featured speaker during the ceremony.
He thanked the 9/11 committee for their work in organizing the program and acknowledged elected officials State Representative Rebecca Kubacki, Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton and former mayor Ernie Wiggins for attending.
He spoke about the impacts of 9/11 and how it effected the world. He started off his speech with an analogy of the song “Bye Bye Miss American Pie” by folksinger Don Mclean.
Thallemer said it is a song about a single event that changed history just as 9/11 did.
The song was about an airplane crash that claimed the lives of rock n roll legends Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.
Thallemer said he was starting his morning in his office on Sept. 11, 2001, when news broke that the World Trade Center had been hit by two passenger airlines. He said his initial reaction to the events in New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pa., was disbelief.
“For a moment the idea that America’s homeland was safe and secure was gone,” Thallemer said.
Thallemer said heroes began to emerge including police, firefighters and emergency personnel who responded within minutes. The country mobilized as the president put the country on high alert.
“It was those who perished that are memorialized in the name of freedom,” Thallemer said.
Thallemer said 9/11 altered the course of human history and changed lives.
“History has changed and all of us must be courageous patriots and selfless leaders as those brave Americans so aptly displayed on that day the music died,” Thallemer said.
Kimberly Stout, Kosciusko County’s chapter of the American Red Cross emergency services director, spoke during the ceremony.
Stout said the Red Cross could not have carried out its mission without the donations that flooded the organization’s offices.
She also said it was the first responders who were on the scene in minutes.
“As the Red Cross it was our honor to support the first responders’ operation on 9/11 and the difficult times afterwards,” Stout said.
Stout said it is also an honor to support the first responders locally who assist the Red Cross when they are called upon.
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Kosciusko County 9/11 Committee organized the 10th annual 9/11 Remembrance ceremony at the 9/11 memorial outside Center Lake Pavilion.
The memorial was established in 2009 to remember Indiana law enforcement who died in the line of duty, and to remember those who died during the terrorist attacks.
The memorial was constructed through monetary and fundraising donations.
Mike Cox, 9/11 committee co-chair, said in his open remarks that the 9/11 committee’s mission is to not only provide a permanent reminder of the 9/11 tragedy, but also encourage patriotism and recovery.
Cox thanked local, state and the nation’s first responders as well as the military for their service.
Cox said 9/11 was an act of war committed by radical Islamists and the goal of the attacks were to shock and demoralize the citizens of the United States and the government.
“I think they were misinformed because they thought we would cave in and didn’t believe we had the backbone to stand up to them,” Cox said. “It is important to remember what happened, the tragedy and triumphs we felt after one of the worst days of our nation.”
He said there were triumphs and although there was suffering, he said Americans know how to heal.
Indiana Guard Reserve presented the colors; Brad Kellar, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy, sang the National Anthem and local singer Ivory West also sang.
Warsaw Boy Scout Troop 715 led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance and Ken Locke, 9/11 committee member, provided a prayer. Locke prayed for the country, government, the troops, and local and national law enforcement.
“Our country remains a shelter of peace, a symbol of freedom, a beacon light of compassion and justice to the downtrodden and oppressed of the world,” Locke said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer was the featured speaker during the ceremony.
He thanked the 9/11 committee for their work in organizing the program and acknowledged elected officials State Representative Rebecca Kubacki, Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton and former mayor Ernie Wiggins for attending.
He spoke about the impacts of 9/11 and how it effected the world. He started off his speech with an analogy of the song “Bye Bye Miss American Pie” by folksinger Don Mclean.
Thallemer said it is a song about a single event that changed history just as 9/11 did.
The song was about an airplane crash that claimed the lives of rock n roll legends Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.
Thallemer said he was starting his morning in his office on Sept. 11, 2001, when news broke that the World Trade Center had been hit by two passenger airlines. He said his initial reaction to the events in New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pa., was disbelief.
“For a moment the idea that America’s homeland was safe and secure was gone,” Thallemer said.
Thallemer said heroes began to emerge including police, firefighters and emergency personnel who responded within minutes. The country mobilized as the president put the country on high alert.
“It was those who perished that are memorialized in the name of freedom,” Thallemer said.
Thallemer said 9/11 altered the course of human history and changed lives.
“History has changed and all of us must be courageous patriots and selfless leaders as those brave Americans so aptly displayed on that day the music died,” Thallemer said.
Kimberly Stout, Kosciusko County’s chapter of the American Red Cross emergency services director, spoke during the ceremony.
Stout said the Red Cross could not have carried out its mission without the donations that flooded the organization’s offices.
She also said it was the first responders who were on the scene in minutes.
“As the Red Cross it was our honor to support the first responders’ operation on 9/11 and the difficult times afterwards,” Stout said.
Stout said it is also an honor to support the first responders locally who assist the Red Cross when they are called upon.
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