Several events have been scheduled today and throughout the week in the Jefferson City area to remember those who died and those who worked to save others during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the Unites States.
Event information provided the News Tribune includes:
At 5 p.m. today, First Presbyterian Church, 324 Madison St., will hold a Remembrance Service.
Friday is the annual POW/MIA Recognition Day observance at 6:30 p.m. in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda.
From 9-10 a.m. Saturday, the Tunnels to Towers 5K Run and Walk is at the Capitol.
The Tunnels to Towers Foundation honors "the sacrifice of firefighter Stephen Siller, who laid down his life to save others on September 11, 2001, (and) our military and first responders who continue to make the supreme sacrifice of life and limb for our country."
The 5K events remember Siller's final steps, as the Brooklyn-based firefighter carried his gear through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which had been closed to vehicles after the World Trade Center towers had been hit.
The foundation said the event "pays homage to all first responders who made and continue to make extraordinary sacrifices in the line of duty."
Today marks the 15th anniversary of those terrorist attacks, as California-bound commercial airplanes that had started their journeys from airports in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., were used as weapons by the radical Islamic group al-Qaeda.
Two jetliners slammed into the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center. Another was flown into the Pentagon.
And a fourth jet that officials believe was headed either for the White House or the U.S. Capitol was crashed into an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as passengers fought with hijackers for control of the plane.
In all, 2,996 people were killed - 265 airplane crew and passengers (including the 19 hijackers), 2,606 in the twin towers and 125 in the Pentagon.