All across America communities will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks by honoring those who lost their lives, the families impacted, and heroic acts that took place.
Hopewell Valley is set to remember those lives of regular Americans and first responders when 2,977 American flags are placed at Woolsey Park in Hopewell Township on Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. to represent and honor each of the lives lost that day on Sept.11, 2001.
An official 9/11 Memorial Ceremony occurs in Woolsey Park on Sept. 12 at 11 a.m.
The Hopewell Valley Sept. 11 and Emergency Services Memorial Committee, which organizes the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony, seeks volunteers to help place the 2,977 American flags in the ground at the park at 6:30 p.m. Each flag honors a life.
For the memorial ceremony on Sept. 12, people are being advised to bring their own lawn chair to Woolsey Park.
Additionally, each year in Hopewell Valley a piece of steel from the World Trade Center is moved to different locations in the valley.
The piece of steel is housed for a year at the new location to honor and remember the 9/11 victims and those who have died and continue to suffer from 9/11 related illnesses.
Last year, Hopewell Borough Hall became the new home for the piece of steel. In 2024, the steel had been on display at Mercer County Library’s Hopewell Branch in Pennington.
The annual movement ceremony features a procession of emergency vehicles escorting the steel to its new location.
The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks changed the United States 25 years ago. The attacks that day were carried out by members of Al Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group that was founded by Osama bin Laden.
Terrorists hijacked four commercial planes. Two were flown into the North and South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, another plane was flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth plane – United Airlines Flight 93- did not make it to a target due to the heroic passengers who learned about the other planes when contacting loved ones and attempted to overtake the hijackers when the plane was then crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
There were 2,977 lives lost that day. More than 6,300 deaths have been attributed to 9/11 illnesses from the toxic dust and debris, according to national reports.
