Photo by Erin Nelson.
Members of the Vestavia Hills Fire Department stand at attention during the playing of Taps at the Patriot Day Remembrance Ceremony with the cities of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Homewood at Vestavia Hills City Hall on Sept. 11, 2022.
On Monday, Sept. 11, the Homewood Fire and Police Departments will host the annual Patriot Day memorial event, held in collaboration with the cities of Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook.
It will take place in front of Homewood City Hall at 9 a.m. and will feature speakers, singing, a flag ceremony and a bell-ringing ceremony.
The fire and police departments of these three cities have been holding this event since 2002, the year after the terrorist attacks occurred in New York City and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Each year, the fire departments hold a bell-ringing ceremony as part of the Patriot Day program. According to Captain Mark Shannon of the Homewood Fire Department, this ceremony honors lost firemen by ringing a bell that represents their last alarm.
“There were 343 firemen and other public safety personnel that lost their lives on 9/11,” Shannon said. “As Americans, we should take time to remember those who died, as well as their families and friends. This ceremony lets people reflect and honor those lives.”
Along with this ceremony, Melissa Turnage will speak at the event. Turnage is a local resident who lost her son in the attack on the Twin Towers in 2001.
Lexi Bresnan, the daughter of late Homewood Fire Chief John Bresnan, will sing the “National Anthem” and “Color Me America” by Dolly Parton.
