‘Innocent victims’ of the Sept. 11 attacks honored during Belleville ceremony
Under a twisted, rusty beam from the World Trade Center, Belleville and Scott Air Force Base officials on Saturday morning solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The memorial ceremony in Belleville symbolically started at 9:11 a.m.
The thousands of persons who died on that fateful day and who have died in the two decades since then were remembered Saturday.
“We honor these innocent victims, those that were torn from this life …, those who shared their last moments with expressions of love for those they hold most dear and those that fought back valiantly with all of the effort they could muster,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Daniel A. DeVoe, commander of the 618th Air Operations Center at Scott Air Force Base.
DeVoe, the keynote speaker for the event, said Sept. 11 showed us the “worst of humanity and the best of humanity.”
DeVoe noted the courage of surviving family members and loved ones who have carried on with their lives and the servicemembers who have battled the organizers of the Sept. 11 attacks and their supporters.
“Your efforts, while costly, have not been in vain,” DeVoe said. “The lives that you have saved, the lives that you have changed for the better, the way of life that you have protected, the values that you have upheld, the future that you have secured, they have all been worth it.”
Other speakers included Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory, Fire Chief J.P. Penet and Police Chief Bill Clay.
The ceremony was at the September 11 Memorial Walkway of Southern Illinois next to the Belleville fire station at 1125 S. Illinois St.
The 35-foot, steel column from the World Trade Center weighs over 7,100 pounds and is supported by two concrete pillars emblematic of the fallen Twin Towers, according to the city’s website.
Saturday’s event was closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it was live streamed on the city’s Facebook page where you can watch a recording of the ceremony.
You can visit the Belleville walkway from dawn to dusk seven days a week.
Other Sept. 11 memorial ceremonies were scheduled for Saturday in the metro-east, including events at Smithton Park, McKendree University in Lebanon and VFW Post 805 in O’Fallon.
For more coverage of the 9/11 anniversary, News-Democrat subscribers can read a 26-page special section in the BND’s eEdition.
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 12:35 PM.
