TIMES UNION REPORTS – The 9/11 Remembrance ceremony will have a bit more significance to it this year than in years past.
It’s the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks. There will be a parade, which is only done every five years. And Warsaw Police Department officer Jason Dobbins’ name will be unveiled on the memorial at Central Park.
Dobbins died Feb. 1, 2020, following complications from an emergency surgery. He was 50 years old. His unexpected death started with a Jan. 24 emergency incident while he was on duty.
The theme for this year’s ceremony is “Remembering 9/11 – Celebrating the Spirit of Sept. 12.” The Sept. 12 refers to “when we were all patriotic Americans,” Kosciusko County 9/11 Memorial Remembrance Committee Chairman Mike Cox said.
This year’s ceremony starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 at Central Park in front of the Center Lake Pavilion.
The local annual ceremony started in 2002.
“We just thought, back then, to do a parade and a program, which was one of the longest parades Warsaw has ever had,” Cox said. The parade went from Boggs Park to the fairgrounds. “We still had the railroad blocked when the first units were pulling into the fairgrounds.”
Ken Locke, Committee member, said they filled the bleachers pretty well at the fairgrounds.
This year, the parade begins at Central Park, turns left onto Buffalo Street, right onto Main Street, left on Lake Street and right onto Center Street to Boggs.
“As the first few years went along, we decided to do a permanent memorial and the (Warsaw) Parks Department donated the ground and kind of does the upkeep on it,” Cox said. “We raised all the funds, no taxpayer money was expended.”
The memorial, which sits in the grassy area in front of Center Lake Pavilion, was dedicated Nov. 1, 2009. Nine days later, Cox said, they had a reason to add another name to the south side of the memorial: Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Shaw was killed in an accident on Ind. 14 near Silver Lake.
The 2021 ceremony will start with a welcome from Cox. Locke will give an invocation, followed by Boys Scouts leading the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem sung by Bryce Lippe.
The keynote speaker will be Chris Francis from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.
“He’s a good speaker. We asked him and he said yes,” Cox said. “He’s going to speak partially on how the world has changed since 9/11 and how it affected him personally and his job.”
Brad Kellar, from the Warsaw Police Department, will sing Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American.”
Johnny Butler, Committee member, said there will be a special presentation to the Dobbins family in conjunction with the unveiling of Dobbins’ name added to the memorial.
After the closing, the ceremony participants will adjourn to their parade vehicles.
Butler said the parade will go around the courthouse to the southwest side where the war memorial sits. He said personalized placards will be out for the four Kosciusko County servicemen who have fallen since 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Indiana Fallen Heroes Association provided the placards. The names of those servicemen who paid the ultimate price in service of their country include James Snyder (Iraq, May 10, 2008), Brock Beery (Iraq, March 23, 2006), M. Todd Fiscus (Afghanistan, March 26, 2005) and David Fribley (Iraq, March 23, 2003).
The parade, Butler said, will include emergency vehicles, American Legion Post 49 Honor Guard float, the Patriot Guard and VFW Riders and any other vehicle that joins.
“We kind of opened it up, specifying that there’s nothing political to be involved. But really anybody who wants to join in is welcome,” Cox said. “We’ve got committents from police, fire, EMS and we never know until the last minute who can be here.”
Locke said the ceremony will continue, at least every five years, one way or another.
Also that morning, at 8:46 a.m., there will be a time of prayer at the memorial through the Greater Warsaw Ministerial Association, Locke said. The first plane hit the first tower in New York at 8:46 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001. Locke will be leading it, but it will be open up to anyone who wants to pray.
Being the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Cox, Butler and Locke were asked what that means to them personally.
“To me, it’s a key year because it is the 20th and many young people today really have no clue what we’re celebrating. They need to be educated to that fact. That’s why we keep coming back here, so that those who remember it don’t forget and those who weren’t born yet can learn,” Cox said. “To me it’s as important a day in the history of the U.S. as Pearl Harbor, Kennedy’s assassination, Lincoln’s assassination and I just feel we need to keep it in the public’s eye and this is my way of doing it.”
Butler said, “For me it’s, to kind of (echo) Mike’s comments, it’s been 20 years and for me it’s how many of our military have fallen, have many have served since then. The ones going in now, the ones enlisting, weren’t even born yet. Freedom has a price that we don’t always understand, and it is paid in blood. And for those who do remember, we all know exactly where we were – probably not when the first tower was hit but definitely when the second tower was hit, we understood exactly what was happening.”
In the last 20 years, he said many things have came out of what happened on 9/11, “all for the better” – Team Red White and Blue, Wounded Warrior Project, Patriot Guard Riders, Honor and Remember and more.
Locke said, “We want to honor the sacrifices that have been made – by our military, by our fire, by our law, by our emergency – all of those personnel – all have given in different ways. They walk out the door any morning, they don’t know if they’re coming home at night. And certainly there are names on this wall that are representative of that, too. There’s name on that wall up there at the courthouse. We just want to remember and honor. People need to understand freedom isn’t free, it comes with a sacrifice, so that’s what this is all about.”
