The Virginia War Memorial will host the Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony this Wednesday to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
The annual ceremony will also remember the downing of the jet aircraft in Shanksville, Pennsylvania that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. These attacks were the first enemy attack on American soil since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.
The ceremony will take place in the Shrine of Memory – Global War on Terrorism and Beyond at 11:00 a.m.
September 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.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Lynn Wright, former Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence and now a private consultant and advisory board member for a variety of academic and security technology firms. She was previously the CEO for Naval Intelligence Professionals, a nonprofit established to advance Naval Intelligence skills and capabilities.