Ft. Riley honors 9/11 victims with ceremony

FT. RILEY (KSNT) - The 1st Infantry Division stationed at Fort Riley is set to hold a 9/11 commemoration ceremony next week.

Kirk Hutchinson with the Fort Riley Public Affairs Office made the announcement via press release on Sept. 7. The ceremony will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at the Global War on Terrorism monument located on the east side of Cavalry Parade Field.

Hutchinson said the monument is a small replica of the World Trade Center Twin Towers on a Pentagon-shaped base. The monument bears the names of Fort Riley soldiers who gave their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During the ceremony, Hutchinson said Col. Michael Foote will give a speech. The ceremony will also include a wreath-laying, a three-round salute fired by an honor guard and "Taps." Emergency workers from nearby Junction City and Manhattan will also be present.

Those who want to attend but don't have a Department of Defense ID card can stop by the Visitor Control Center near the Henry Gate which can be reached after taking exit 301 on I-70 to get a pass. You can also apply for a visitor pass online by clicking here.

On Sept. 11, 2001, members of the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda launched four coordinated terrorist attacks, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial planes, crashing two into the Twin Towers in New York City and another into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania before it could reach its destination in Washington, D.C. In total, the attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 people.