9/11 Memorial Service to be held on Hiawassee Square
News August 29, 2019
HIAWASSEE, Ga. – It has been nearly eighteen years since the infamous day that will eternally live in American minds – Sept. 11, 2001. Towns County, along with the City of Hiawassee, plans to honor the terrorist attack victims on Patriot Day. Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw, Hiawassee Mayor Liz Ordiales, and Towns County Fire Chief Harold Copeland met Aug. 29 to finalize the details of a Wednesday, Sept. 11 public memorial. Hiawassee Town Square will be the site of the gathering, beginning at 9:45 a.m.
Mayor Ordiales will serve as the master of ceremonies, with Young Harris Mayor Andrea Gibby welcoming guests. Presentation of the Colors will be issued by North Georgia National Guard. Pastors Danny Byers, Wade Lott, and Donnie Jarrard will offer prayers and words of remembrance in honor of the lives lost. Chief Copeland is scheduled to speak on the meaning of 9/11, prior to ringing a bell to symbolize the fallen. Summer Rahn will sing the National Anthem. The program will end with “God Bless America.”
Towns County Fire Chief Harold Copeland
Commissioner Bradshaw said that the idea to hold the memorial ceremony was presented by part-time Towns County resident Bob Fair. “I wish it was something that we had thought to do sooner,” Bradshaw said. Bradshaw added plans to make the service an annual event.
A total of 2,996 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks, including the 19 terrorist hijackers aboard the four airplanes. Citizens of 78 countries died in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. At the World Trade Center, 2,763 died after the two planes slammed into the twin towers. That figure includes 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors.
At the Pentagon, 189 people were killed, including 64 on American Airlines Flight 77, the airliner that struck the building. On Flight 93, 44 people died when the plane crash-landed in Pennsylvania.
1 Comment
Thank you Townes County and the City of Hiawassee for living the 9/11 words…”Never Forget.” My brother, Dan VanLaere, lost his life in the South Tower on 9/11. When he was about 5 or 6 years old, he told my mother that he wanted to be a firefighter. At age 18 he joined the Glen Rock, NJ Volunteer Fire Department. After college he worked as an underwriter for AON, an insurance company. He specialized in fire safety. A survivor of 9/11 and a co-worker of Dan said that they heard the loud “boom” when the first building was struck. They went to the window and observed the fireball and the people jumping from the North Tower. I asked his co-worker what did Dan do then. She said he went to the floor’s lobby (98th floor) to help evacuate his co-workers. Apparently he still felt the firefighter calling on the last day of his life as he did when he was a young child.
Thank you to the Townes County and City of Hiawassee First Responders who dedicate their lives for all of us. And thank you to the county and city officials who continue to “Remember 9/11.”
Jacquie VanLaere