RICHMOND — The Virginia War Memorial will host the Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony on Monday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m.
This annual ceremony will officially commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and the downing of an airliner in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.
Karl S. Leonard, Sheriff of Chesterfield County and a U.S. Coast Guard combat veteran will be the keynote speaker.
“We welcome Sheriff Karl Leonard as our keynote speaker for this year’s Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony,” said Virginia War Memorial Director Dr. Clay Mountcastle. “Before beginning a second career in law enforcement and as the Sheriff of one of Virginia’s largest counties, Sheriff Leonard served with distinction as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and participated in many anti-terrorist and other military assignments at various stateside locations including the Pentagon and in combat situations overseas.”
The public is invited to attend the ceremony. Beginning at 10:40 a.m., the Richmond Brass and Percussion Consort will play 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, and representatives of the Freedom Flag Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering 9/11, will also participate.
There is no admission charge. Free parking is available in the Virginia War Memorial surface lot and underground parking deck at 621 South Belvidere St. 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.
“We must never forget our fellow Americans and fellow Virginians who died on that terrible day two decades 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. We invite all Virginians and their families and friends to join us for this solemn event,” added Mountcastle.
For more information on the 2023 Commonwealth’s Patriot Day Ceremony, visit vawarmemorial.org, dvs.virginia.gov or call 804.786.2060.