Taylor will come together in solidarity this week to remember the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
The Taylor Fire Department will host its annual Patriot Day Memorial March and Remembrance to honor those who died in the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. The event begins at 7 p.m. Monday during the 22nd anniversary of the attacks.
“We’re not throwing candy, we’re not honking the horns and lighting the siren,” said Lt. Wes Russell, the organizer of the event. “It’s very much time to not only think about the individual date, but also to think about firefighters and first responders we’ve lost since then.”
The ceremony will begin on Seventh St., continue on Main St., turn on Second St., come up Porter St. and end in Heritage Square.
Emergency vehicles and uniformed personnel will be lined up along the streets. Once the march reaches the park, a patriotic ceremony will follow.
A keynote speech will be given afterwards by Belton Fire Department Chief Jon Fontenot.
Taylor has held the ceremony to remember the attacks every year since the first anniversary. Russell feels it’s important to keep thinking about the terrorist act, despite many cities no longer performing ceremonies for the anniversary. “I see it as an important thing to remind our first responders,” Russell said. “We’ve reached a point now where we have first responders who weren’t alive on 9/11.”
All first responders are invited to attend, with plenty of regulars expected to participate again. The fire department will be joined by 61 students from the Honor Guard Academy.
The Honor Guard Academy is a week-long course that teaches firefighters how to perform certain ceremonious activities. Topics taught include flag etiquette, casket watch and the Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force.
“We’ve attempted to coincide it with the 9/11 mark so we would have another opportunity for people who wouldn’t normally be there to see how Taylor still honors first responders on Patriot Day,” Russell said.
The event is open and free to the public.
