The WVU community will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks during a series of events planned Friday (Sept. 11) in front of the WVU Downtown Library. (WVU Photo/Jennifer Shephard)
WHAT: West Virginia University will recognize the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a vigil and memorial ceremony.
WHERE: WVU Libraries Downtown Library, 1549 University Ave., Morgantown
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 11
- 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — WVU Army and Air Force ROTC cadets will conduct a 12-hour vigil in front of the WVU Downtown Library.
- 11:30 a.m. — The WVU Center for Veteran, Military and Family Programs will host a ceremony at the Sept. 11 memorial adjacent to Clark Hall. WVU President Michael T. Benson will be the keynote speaker. Joining him will be retired WVU professor Tom Witt and Army ROTC Cadet Gavin-Paul Denmead.
After the speakers conclude, ceremony participants will place a commemorative wreath in front of the memorial marker as Mountaineer Marching Band member Joshua Lugo Zambrano, a senior music performance major from Chantilly, Virginia, plays “Taps.” Music business and industry sophomore Kyler Gunn from Charles Town will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” to open the event.
University and Morgantown community members are encouraged to attend.
NOTES: The annual vigil pays tribute to the American service members who answered the nation’s call and deployed around the world during the past 25 years to defend the homeland and protect American global interests.
Witt was staying at the Marriott World Trade Center while attending a conference and witnessed United Airlines Flight 175 strike the South Tower. He narrowly escaped the area along with his wife.
Denmead, a fourth-year cadet from Sparta, New Jersey, serves as a member of the West Virginia Army National Guard. Like many current WVU students, he was not yet born when the attacks took place, but he carries on the strong Mountaineer tradition of military service. Army and Air Force cadets will stand in formation beside local law enforcement officers and firefighters.
As part of the commemoration, shifts of cadets will march around the quad in front of the WVU Downtown Library. Cadets began the memorial vigil at WVU in 2002 to recognize the personal sacrifice of the thousands of members of the military who deployed to defend American interests after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
In the past 25 years, hundreds of WVU Army and Air Force ROTC graduates, as well as hundreds of WVU student veterans and local veterans, have served honorably around the world in support of the Global War on Terrorism, including in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
WVU alumni Chris Gray and Jim K. Samuel Jr. were killed in the attacks. Gray was a quarterback on the WVU football team.
Interviews with participating speakers and cadets can be arranged after the ceremony concludes.
Read 9/11 reflections and see a photo essay.
-WVU-
jd/9/9/26
MEDIA CONTACT: John Dowling
Recruiting Operations Officer
WVU Army ROTC
304-894-6641; John.Dowling@mail.wvu.edu
Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.