The first of the remembrance ceremonies scheduled on the North Olympic Peninsula for the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will be at 7:45 a.m. today in Sequim.
The city of Sequim’s ceremony will be at Sequim Civic Center Plaza, 152 W. Cedar St.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony in Sequim will be a man who was in the Pentagon when it was attacked on 9/11 — Marc Abshire, Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce executive director. A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, Abshire was in the Pentagon when it was attacked on 9/11.
On Saturday, the bell at the Sequim Civic Center Plaza will toll one time to coincide with the local times of each plane crash on 9/11, which killed a combined 2,977.
The bell will toll at 5:46 a.m., 6:03 a.m., 6:37 a.m. and 7:03 a.m., organizers said.
Port Townsend
At 8:30 a.m. Saturday, East Jefferson Fire Rescue and Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue will conduct ceremonies outdoors at staffed fire stations.
One minute of silence is planned at 8:46 a.m., the Eastern Daylight Time that Flight 11 hit Tower 1 of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Community members and local law enforcement are invited to join in the observance while practicing social distancing outside of the stations.
Staffed fire stations are EJFR — Station 1-1, 9193 Rhody Drive, Chimacum; Station 1-5, 35 Critter Lane. Port Townsend: Station 1-6, 701 Harrison St. Port Townsend; PLFR — Station 31 (headquarters) 7650 Oak Bay Road; Station 33, 101 South Point Road.
Firefighter volunteers in both districts are encouraged to participate at unstaffed stations. They are: EJFR — Station 1-2, 6633 Flagler Road, Marrowstone Island: Station 1-3, 50 Airport Road, Jefferson County Municipal Airport; Station 1-4, 3850 Cape George Road; and PLFR: Station 32, 121 W. Alder St.
Port Angeles
Two 9/11 monuments will be rededicated at noon Saturday at 9/11 Memorial Waterfront Park at the north end of Francis Street at 400 N. Francis St.
Alan Barnard, who co-founded the public safety monuments at the Port Angeles park, will lead the ceremony as he has most years since the dedication of the first monument on Sept. 11, 2002.
Scheduled speakers for the noon ceremony in Port Angeles include Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Cameron, Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith or his designee, Port Angeles Fire Chief Ken Dubuc or his designee, Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Officer Commander Joanne Snaith and Coast Guard Petty Officer Sam Allen.
After the ceremony, bagpiper Rick McKenzie, a reitred Coast Guard veteran, will play at the Port Angeles Fire Station, 102 E. Fifth St., where the fire department boom truck will be raised displaying a large American flag.
Before the ceremony, the American Legion Riders will establish a flag line for arriving visitors.
“The ceremony will begin with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Honor Guard raising the flag while the Grand Olympic Chorus sings the national anthem,” Barnard said.
“Following the flag ceremony the chorus will sing three more patriotic songs.”
The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed by 19 terrorists associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaed, was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Four airplanes were hijacked. American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 were flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers. American Airlines flight 77 hit the Pentagon. United Airlines flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa., after passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers. The plane was thought to have been headed to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
