With the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 coming up next month, there will be a Patriot Day Remembrance held Saturday, Sept. 9.
The event will be at the American Legion Post 153 at 2230 Kanell Blvd., and commemorates the attack on America in 2001.
Events will kick off at 10:30 a.m. and run until 11:30 a.m. They will include a 9/11 commemoration, a remembrance walk and a cookout.
The event is being organized by the Marine Corps League, Staff Sgt. Eric Summers Detachment 1473.
“Prior to moving from Oceanside, California, in 2020, I had conducted a similar annual event when I served in the capacity of the director of the veterans program at Vanguard University,” said Brian Burlingame, the commandant of Detachment 1473. “I think we have a responsibility to honor and pay tribute to all Americans who perished and made the ultimate sacrifice on what I would consider one of the most horrific and worst days in our nation’s history.
“Many who are veterans of all services now decided to join our armed forces because of the events that took place on 9/11, and would go on to service in both Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The remembrance walk will add a special dimension to the day’s activities.
“I created the remembrance walk as a way for individuals to simply walk a path where (people) can self-reflect on events of that day,” Burlingame said. “This element follows the indoor portion. We will display each flight with information of those lost as well as a flag stand at the bottom of the poster where one small American flag is placed for each of 10 lives lost on that flight.”
Burlingame said the walk also will feature 13 larger American flags lining the path on the left side, and 12 posters on the right with photos that show the timeline from 9:03 a.m. on Sept. 11 through a bit after 8 p.m. that day when then-President George W. Bush addressed the nation.
“In addition to all of this, I will have a speaker near the end of the remembrance walk that will be playing the many air traffic control conversations that were taking place throughout the morning in and around our nation’s capital,” Burlingame said. “At the very end of the walk, we will display two 9/11 flags of honor — (a flag) that has all the names of the 343 first responders who lost their lives and one of the 3,000-plus names of all others.”
In addition, this year’s event will feature a Reflection Wall during the week before the event where individuals or businesses can come by American Legion Post 153 and leave cards, post-it notes, letters or pictures of items related to their memories and experiences of that fateful day.
In light of how 9/11 affected America, Burlingame said the Patriot Day Remembrance means that much more.
“This event means a great deal to us as veterans and those who have served — but just as important, we do this to remind Americans that freedom is not free and to ensure that since it has been 22 years (since that day), that no one forgets what happened to our nation,” Burlingame said. “For me, it provides us the opportunity to provide a history and perspective for our young people as well in Poplar Bluff and surrounding communities who were very young, or may not have even been born yet, why we have to always remember those we lost and the significance of this day’s event in our nation’s history.”