CRESTLINE—Twenty years after what was one of the worst days in American history when two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven Americans lost their lives and over six thousand were injured in the terrorist attacks, many gathered in Crestline in remembrance of that day.
The 9.11 Walk & Remembrance Ceremony, put on by the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce, began at 8:40 with a flag-raising ceremony, followed by a moment of silence at 8:46 when the North Tower was hit.
Miranda Jones, Executive Director of the Galion-Crestline Chamber, said that the idea to do something to honor the day came from Joe Dzugan. “We were all sitting around one day when we realized that the twentieth anniversary was on a Saturday, so we started looking up other communities and realized that nobody else was doing anything, and we felt that we needed to do something because it was definitely a moment in our history that needed to be honored and remembered.”
The idea for the event to be a walk came from Chad Schrack to honor those who have passed and lost their lives on that day.
The length of the walk was a little over a half-mile, which equated to approximately two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven steps – one for each life lost that day. The walk started out at The Hub and went south on Seltzer St., west on Union Street, north on Thoman Street, east on Main Street, and back south on Seltzer to end back at The Hub.
“It was wonderful and brought so many tears to my lives to see so many people come out to Crestline to join together to celebrate America’s freedom and the fact that we rebounded from such a terrible event, and we still remember,” Jones said.
After the walk, a remembrance ceremony was held where Chief Shook made remarks, VFW members made remarks, and Jeffrey Gress, an associate professor at Capital University, read an essay he wrote after interviewing survivors of 9/11.
The event ended with a final call over the speaker system for all those who lost their lives.
In memory of those we lost, and in honor of those who spent hours upon hours searching for survivors and helping in the aftermath.
We Remember.
Never Forget.
