The second annual 9/11 Never Forgotten Commemoration is scheduled for 8:46 a.m. Saturday.
Organizer Dustin Fawcett said it will start at the Ector County Coliseum at the minute the Twin Towers were struck by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
On that day, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States, the History Channel website said.
Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Penn., the site said.
Fawcett said all local law enforcement and first responders will turn on their sirens and drive in a caravan on 42nd Street to the Chris Kyle Memorial statue off State Highway 191.
The ceremony will include a wreath laying in honor of those who fell 21 years ago, Fawcett said. there will be a canopy and seats set up. The public is invited to come to the lawn east of the VA building and on the Chris Kyle memorial grounds.
Fawcett said the public can also line up along 42nd Street and watch the caravan drive by.
A few words will be said by Odessa Police Department Police Chief Mike Gerke, Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis and Odessa Fire Rescue Chief John Alvarez, Fawcett said.
A chaplain will say a prayer and bagpipers will perform songs.
“It’s really about commemorating the occasion and all the visuals that go with it,” Fawcett said.
He added that having the event for a second year shows the support and patriotism of the community along with their backing of law enforcement and first responders.
