PURCELLVILLE, Va. (ABC7) — Communities across the country took time on Wednesday to mark the 18th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks. In the Town of Purcellville in Loudoun County, the annual remembrance ceremony includes a special connection to Ground Zero.
The town’s First Responders Monument was dedicated in 2011.
It features a steel beam that came from tower two of the World Trade Center, as well as stone that came from Shanksville, Pennsylvania.. That’s where Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against those who’d hijacked the plane.
“Four attacks in the space of less than an hour and a half changed us completely. Changed the way we look at the sky. Changed the way we look at each other,” said Purcellville Mayor Kwasi Fraser. “So we join millions across our country who are gathering to remember those who lost their lives and also to honor our first responders who have made and continue to make that incredible sacrifice.”
Council member and Vice Mayor Tip Stinnette also spoke to the crowd during the 6:30 p.m. ceremony, sharing his own experience as an active member of the military on that dark day.
“On September 11th of 2001, I was a colonel in the military. And I spent the next nine years leading our sons and daughters in both Iraq and Afghanistan, in response to the events of that day,” said Stinnette.
He said it’s important that we never forget the lives lost on that day, nor those who stepped up to serve in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
“We honor the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way in response to those events both then and now,” he said. “And we renew the love, the faith, and commitment that binds us together as one American family.”
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