9/11 Events Across West Michigan Will Remember Those Lost

It's difficult to believe that it's been 20-years since that fateful day of September 11, 2002. Those moments were so stunning as we watched the airplanes hit the twin towers in New York City, and the Pentagon, with another crashing into a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field. It's certainly a day non of us will, or should, forget.

For several years following that harrowing day West Michigan has held a Community Day of Remembrance and Scout Salute at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Tomorrow, September 11, from sunrise to sunset, the salute and remembrance will again honor those lost in those awful times.

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Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchirst will participate on the plaza at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum(GRFPM). The remembrance will also include activities in Muskegon at the USS LST 393 World War II landing ship, and at the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department.

During a 6 p.m. program outside of the GRFPM, Gilchrist will provide remarks along with Retired Brigadier General Michael McDaniel, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense Strategy and current Constitutional Law Professor at WMU-Cooley Law School.

For the 20th year, the President Ford Field Service Council, Boy Scouts of America will lead the West Michigan community in this day-long “Scout Salute." At sunrise and sunset color guards from the Grand Rapids Police and Fire Departments will lower and raise the flag outside of the museum to commemorate the opening and closing of day’s events.

Activities in Muskegon at the USS LST 393 begin at 10 a.m. and include tours of the ship until 4 p.m. Scouts and community members are encouraged to salute the flag throughout the day until 8 p.m.

At the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Station, a ceremony will begin with the Fire Honor Guard and Boy Scouts lowering flags to half-staff at 8:30 a.m. and conclude with a fly-by from the U.S. Coast Guard at 8:55 a.m.

Various activities from all locations will be live streamed at https://www.facebook.com/MichiganCrossroadsCouncil. In Grand Rapids, all Sept. 11 events will be held outside.

See 20 Ways America Has Changed Since 9/11

For those of us who lived through 9/11, the day’s events will forever be emblazoned on our consciousnesses, a terrible tragedy we can’t, and won’t, forget. Now, two decades on, Stacker reflects back on the events of 9/11 and many of the ways the world has changed since then. Using information from news reports, government sources, and research centers, this is a list of 20 aspects of American life that were forever altered by the events of that day. From language to air travel to our handling of immigration and foreign policy, read on to see just how much life in the United States was affected by 9/11.