Ceremonies, community service and a 9/11 widow’s personal reflections will commemorate the anniversary
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and changed the course of the nation, northern Beaufort County residents will have several opportunities to gather, remember and serve.
Events planned in Beaufort to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks include the annual Patriot Day ceremony at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, a National Day of Service and Remembrance at Beaufort National Cemetery and an evening with the widow of a New York City firefighter killed in the attacks.
Patriot Day ceremony to honor first responders
The Exchange Club of Beaufort and City of Beaufort will commemorate Patriot Day with a ceremony from 7:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park.
The ceremony will remember and honor those who served and died on Sept. 11 while also recognizing local first responders.
A Firefighter of the Year, Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and EMS Worker of the Year will be honored during the event.
Following the ceremony, several first responder vehicles will make a slow procession across the Woods Memorial Bridge.
The Beaufort Area Hospitality Association is also coordinating an effort among local restaurants to recognize first responders by offering discounts on Sept. 11.
Breakwater Restaurant & Bar will offer first responders 15% off, excluding alcohol, while Q on Bay will offer 25% off food. Plums, Hearth Wood Fired Pizza and Saltus River Grill will each offer 20% off food.
Magnolia Bakery Cafe will offer a free entree to a first responder with the purchase of an entree of equal or greater value.
The association is continuing to compile a list of participating restaurants.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, while a third struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.
Passengers and crew members fought back aboard a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, including 343 members of the New York City Fire Department and dozens of law enforcement officers.
The attacks led to the U.S.-led Global War on Terror and military operations that would span the next two decades.
Remembering through service
Commemorations will continue the following day when Beaufort National Cemetery hosts a National Day of Service and Remembrance from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12.
The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a brief ceremony at the cemetery’s main flagpole to remember the many people killed on Sept. 11 and the first responders and service members who answered the call afterward.
Volunteers will then clean headstones and the cemetery’s boundary wall, weed planting beds and complete other light yard work.
Participants are asked to bring buckets and light yard tools. The cemetery will provide soapy water and soft-bristle brushes for cleaning the headstones.
The event is part of a nationwide effort commemorating the 25th anniversary of the attacks while honoring more than 16,000 Global War on Terror veterans who have been laid to rest in Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries.
Parking will be available at Beaufort National Cemetery, 1601 Boundary St. Participants should enter through the Rogers Street gate.
Those wishing to volunteer are asked to register in advance through Carry The Load’s Patriot Day registration page.
For more information about the Beaufort National Cemetery event, call 843-524-3925 or email Beaufort.NationalCemetery@va.gov.
A personal reflection 25 years later
A third Beaufort event will look at the anniversary through the experience of a woman who lost her husband in the attacks.
Ann Van Hine, whose husband, FDNY firefighter Keith Van Hine, was killed on Sept. 11, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Parish Church at Habersham, at 100 North Market.
The program, “A Personal Reflection About 9/11: Twenty-Five Years Later,” will feature Van Hine sharing her personal story and reflections on Sept. 11, 2001, and its impact 25 years later.
Van Hine is an author who has written about navigating the aftermath of Sept. 11 through the experiences of faith, family and the FDNY community.
Her husband was among the 343 FDNY members killed while responding to the World Trade Center attacks.
The Sept. 17 program is billed as an evening of remembrance, reflection and hope.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.