FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — The Fort Leonard Wood community is invited to a Patriot Day Ceremony scheduled for 8:45 a.m., Sept. 11 at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Plaza.

“It is always our solemn duty to honor our fallen,” MSCoE Command Chaplain (Col.) Craig Ludwig said.

According to the Army’s Patriot Day website, Sept. 11, 2001, changed more than the skyline of New York City — the attacks changed a generation of Americans, our Army and our world.

Fort Leonard Wood’s Patriot Day Ceremony will address and support the feelings associated with that change by including a memorial reflection, moment of silence, prayer and taps.

“The ceremony is a short, somber event,” Ludwig said. “The guest speaker will be Col. Steven Bartley (U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander).”

The action officer for the upcoming ceremony, Chaplain (Maj.) Travis Hairston, Religious Support Office resource manager, said he had three personal goals while planning this ceremony.

He said he wants to provide participants with an opportunity for reflection on the personal impacts of 9/11 and provide a venue where the community can fulfill one of “our greatest duties,” to honor and remember the fallen.

“I also want to encourage and inspire participants to remain faithful and steadfast to their call to service and to live lives worthy of the sacrifices of those lost,” Hairston said.

According to Ludwig, the time for the event was chosen because the first attack hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m., and “having the event early on 9/11 can help those who remember the event to connect with the events of that fateful morning.”

Ludwig said it is important to take time Sept. 11 to remember and honor the lives lost on that day in 2001.

“The effects of 9/11 are still seen today. There are still families who feel the loss. The (names) of the first responders that were lost still echoes through the first responder community,” Ludwig said. “The events of that day led to the longest war in U.S. history which resulted in more than 7,000 service members paying the ultimate price.”

Information about Patriot Day can be found on the Department of Defense Remembering Sept. 11, 2001 webpage, as well as the official memorial pages for the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum, National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and Flight 93 National Memorial.