The Virginia War Memorial will host this year’s Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony, which will commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and the downing of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.
The annual ceremony will be held on Sept. 11, at 11:00 a.m. in the Shrine of Memory – Global War on Terrorism and Beyond, with Karl S. Leonard, Sheriff of Chesterfield County, Va. and U.S. Coast Guard combat veteran as the keynote speaker.
“We welcome Sheriff Karl Leonard as our keynote speaker for this year’s Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony,” said Virginia War Memorial Director Dr. Clay Mountcastle. “Before beginning a second career in law enforcement and as the Sheriff of one of Virginia’s largest counties, Sheriff Leonard served with distinction as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and participated in many anti-terrorist and other military assignments at various stateside locations including the Pentagon and in combat situations overseas.”
The Sept. 11 attack was the worst enemy attack on American soil since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Sept. 11. has been designated each year as Patriot Day, a National Day of Mourning, by the United States Congress to honor and remember the 2,997 men and women who died and the more than 6,000 who were injured on that day in 2001.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend the ceremony. Attendees are requested to arrive early to be in place for the 11 a.m. start time. Beginning at 10:40 a.m., the Richmond Brass and Percussion Consort will play a selection of patriotic music. The ceremony will include the placement of wreaths in memory of those who lost their lives during the 2001 attacks.
Representatives of the Freedom Flag Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering 9/11, will also participate.
There is no admission charge. Free parking is available in the Virginia War Memorial surface lot and underground parking deck at 621 South Belvidere Street, Richmond, VA 23220. The Virginia War Memorial will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for visitation and the documentary film, A New Century, A New War, will be shown all day in the Memorial’s Reynolds Theater.
“We must never forget our fellow Americans and fellow Virginians who died on that terrible day two decades ago. And there is no more fitting place in the Commonwealth to honor them than here on the hallowed grounds of the Virginia War Memorial. We invite all Virginians and their families and friends to join us for this solemn event,” said Dr. Mountcastle.
For more information on the 2023 Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony, please visit www.vawarmemorial.org, www.dvs.virginia.gov or call 804.786.2060.