Never Forget: Southern California Ceremonies Mark 20th Anniversary Of 9/11 Attacks
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Southern Californians will mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with remembrance ceremonies on Saturday.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in four coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a plane crash into a field in Pennsylvania the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. In the 20 years since, Sept. 11 has been declared a national day of service and remembrance.
One of Southern California's most long-standing Sept. 11 tributes takes place every year at Pepperdine University in Malibu. The Waves of Flags display features 2,977 flags placed in the university's Alumni Park, along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road. One flag is placed for each person who died in the attack, including national flags for each foreign country that lost a citizen. The flags will be raised Wednesday, and lowered on Sunday, Sept. 26. Pepperdine will also hold several remembrance event on Sept. 11.
The Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda and the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley will also host Sept. 11 remembrance events. The Nixon Library's commemoration ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and will include 23 tons of wreckage of the World Trade Center as its centerpiece. At the Reagan Library, an evening ceremony will include keynote remarks from retired Col. David Sutherland and retired NYPD Officer Marc Manfro. Both events are free, but guests are asked to register online in advance.
All San Bernardino County Fire stations will host a 15-minute Reflection Ceremony at 8 a.m. Saturday. Each ceremony will include a reflection of that day's events, the lower of the U.S. flag to half-staff, and the tolling of the bell.
The cities of Signal Hill and Long Beach will jointly host "A Celebration of Peace and Unity" at 9 a.m. at the Signal Hill Unity Monument at Temple and Hill streets. Parking is limited, and people who would like to attend are requested to RSVP at (562) 989-7330 and use a carpool or rideshare service.
Santa Barbara will host a special 9 a.m. ceremony at the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens for the first-ever 9/11 Flag of Honor Across America Memorial, one of 60 that will be held across the country for a 9/11 Day project coordinated by Global Youth Justice Inc. and sponsored by AmeriCorps.
At 9 a.m., residents of the high desert are invited to join representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the CHP, Los Angeles County Fire Department, U.S. Forest Service, and Department of Corrections at a ceremony at the main entrance plaza of the Antelope Valley Mall, 1233 Rancho Vista Blvd. in Palmdale, to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The City of Beverly Hills will hold its annual ceremony in its 9/11 Memorial Garden. The 5:30 p.m. ceremony will include a wreath laying, ringing of the bell, playing of taps, a 21-gun salute and a flyover in partnership with the city of Los Angeles. The 9/11 Memorial Garden at 445 N. Rexford Drive is open daily and includes a Twin Towers floor beam at the center of the site.