OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The community will gather at Overland Park's 9/11 Memorial in a ceremony to honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“Hundreds of people will come here. And it's just become sort of the metropolitan area's 9-11 memorial, I guess," said Jason Rhodes, spokesperson for the Overland Park Fire Department. "And so we're honored and humbled by that. But as first responders, it's heartening to know that so many people still feel the gravity of that day and still want to come pay their respects."
The ceremony kicks off at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and will follow the time of events of what happened on that day 23 years ago.
“Even this far away, there are folks that are really, really closely connected to the events of that day," Rhodes said. "And it's kind of appreciated, I think, by them that there's a place locally for them to come and remember and pay their respects, if you will."
The ceremony is held at the 9/11 Memorial outside the Overland Park Fire Training Facility.
It features a piece of that history that was brought to Kansas City after the 9/11 investigation ended.
“It's pretty impactful. It's a 14-foot tall, 2.5-ton piece of steel that came from the World Trade Centers," Rhodes said. "And it bears the scars of what happened that day and the scars of being pulled from the wreckage."
The memorial is free and open to the public every day.
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KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
