Virginia War Memorial to host annual ceremony to commemorate September 11 attacks

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.

A graduate of Old Dominion University, George Mason University and the National Defense University, she also serves as an advisory member of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute.

“We are honored to have former Director of Naval Intelligence Lynn Wright as our keynote speaker for the 2024 Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony,” said Virginia War Memorial Director Dr. Clay Mountcastle. “Ms. Wright was an eyewitness to the attack on the Pentagon and saw first-hand the terrible consequences when the jet aircraft hit including the deaths of those with whom she worked.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the ceremony. Beginning at 10:40 a.m., the Virginia Barbershop Chorus will provide 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 Richmond-based nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering the events of 9/11, will also participate.

The event is free to the public and free parking is also available in the Virginia War Memorial surface lot and 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.

“As Americans and as Virginians, we must never forget our fellow citizens who died on that infamous day twenty-three years 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,” said Dr. Mountcastle. “We invite all Virginians and their families and friends to join us for this solemn and inspiring patriotic event.”