Arcadia Prepares to Remember 9/11

Rosemead’s 9/11 memorial with wreckage taken from ground zero. – Photo by Galen Patterson / Beacon Media News

By Galen Patterson

Arcadia Police Department and Fire Department will be having a memorial service on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Fire Station 105. Fire Station 105 is located at 710 S. Santa Anita Ave., in Arcadia.

The ceremony is open to the public, and both the fire department and the police department will meet at the flagpole at 6 a.m. The fire department will read the names of the New York Fire Department members killed in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001, while the police department will read the names of the New York police officers killed then as well. With the reading of the names, a bell will be rung, making the memorial a bell ceremony, a time-honored tradition.

Later that day, Arcadia High School will commence their annual memorial ceremony. Last year, Arcadia Unified School District made county-wide headlines for their 9/11 memorial service. Nearly 4,000 students gathered to pay tribute to those lost in the attacks, and AUSD student Daniel Black played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, which was then cast on KTLA. Among the other performances at the ceremony were members of the armed and civil services, the Arcadia high school marching band, and staff members teaching the entire school about the importance of 9/11 in American history.

The greater Los Angeles area bears many similarities with the mega-hub of civilization on the opposite coastline of our country, the San Gabriel Valley in particular has taken up memorializing the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

The neighboring City of Rosemead commissioned a work of public art in the shape of two hands, composed of interlocking metal birds holding a warped I-beam. The cut sheet-metal birds that make up the statue represent the lives lost in the attacks, and the I-beam is actual wreckage from ground zero.

Though the terrorist attacks happened on the opposite end of the country, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 causes a stir in Arcadia specifically. Los Angeles County is a high population area, making it an ideal target for terrorists looking to cause casualties. Arcadia specifically has several unique establishments that would further cause it to be a higher-priority target than neighboring cities, and the reaction of city officials in 2001 caused the city to secure itself more than ever against future attacks.

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