GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It has now been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks, and Americans are pausing to remember the thousands who were killed.
Early Wednesday morning in New York, spotlights illuminated the city skyline in remembrance. There are additional services planned in New York, as well as in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.
Here in West Michigan, students at Grand Valley State University are holding a day-long memorial. Starting at 9:00 a.m., they will place 2,977 miniature flags in the ground — one for each person who died — near the Kirkhoff Center in Allendale. Then at 11:45 a.m., the bells on the Carillon Tower will ring 12 times, one ring for each year that has passed.
In Grand Rapids, the President Ford Council of the Boy Scouts will salute from sunrise to sunset. The annual observance happens at the Ford Presidential Museum. There will be a moment of silence starting at 8:46 a.m., marking the time the first tower was hit. At noon, Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell and the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard will participate in a remembrance program.
