ROCK ISLAND, Ill — The Rock Island Arsenal honored Americans who lost their lives on 9/11 with their annual remembrance ceremony.
At 6:30 a.m., dozens of people participated in a two-and-a-half mile walk, starting from the Memorial Field parking lot. At the end, participants placed U.S. flags in a field of honor for the victims of the attack.
"Many combat veterans behind me put flags in the ground," First Army Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Prosser said. "A lot of them have felt over the years the impacts of 9/11 and what it's had on them, their families and their loved ones, while also remembering the almost 3,000 people who passed on that day."
Maj. Gen. David Wilson, the commanding general of the Army Sustainment Command, was the guest speaker of the ceremony. He spoke about the generation of Americans who were shaped by 9/11.
"As someone who was passionate about history, I grew up reading about the events like the attack on Pearl Harbor, but I had never expected to experience a similar event in my own lifetime. I remember that day very well," Wilson said.
Wilson also shared that he was supposed to travel to the Pentagon on the day of the attacks, but his flight out of Norfolk, Virginia, was canceled.
The Rock Island Arsenal has a stone replica of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. It's lit every evening in memory of the victims' sacrifice.
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