9/11 20th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony Friday
The community is welcome to attend a memorial ceremony to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. The Remembrance ceremony will be held on Friday, September 10 at 9:00 a.m. in front of the Veterans Peace Memorial (near the corner of Weldon and College). Parking is free.
“We feel that it is important that we remember what happened on 9/11 because it affected all of us. We as a nation came together at the time, and now 20 years later, to mourn the lives lost and to comfort surviving family members. We are holding this ceremony because we want to pay homage to the thousands who lost their lives on that tragic day – not only the countless civilians but also all the first responders,” said Dr. Jaime Duran, director of the FCC Veterans Resource Center.
The keynote speaker is FCC alumnus Richard Reyes who began serving in the U.S. Marine Corp days after September 11, 2001. He had just graduated from high school earlier that summer and was taking the steps to enlist. By September 17 he was a Marine. Before being honorably discharged in 2016 as a Gunnery Sergeant, he was deployed twice to Iraq. In December 2016, he graduated with honors from Fresno City College with an Associate in Science degree in Business Administration for transfer. Two years later, he graduated from Fresno State. Today, he is a Repayment Specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of Interior.
The ceremony will also include bagpipes by FCC instructor Scott Porteous, the presentation of colors, a wreath laying, a poetry reading by student veteran Ernesto Grijalva, who will also lead the Pledge of Allegiance, the singing of God Bless America by Julie Dana, a rifle salute and the playing of Taps by Rodger Lopez.
