Members of the College Station community will gather around the War on Terror Memorial at Veteran’s Park for a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Friday morning. 

The memorial consists of a steel beam that stabilized one of the Twin Towers before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, said Mike Neu, external relations manager for the city of College Station.

“It was taken from its location in New York to College Station by members of Texas Task Force 1 who participated in the rescue of 9/11 victims,” Neu said. “This group functions as one of the 28 federal teams under FEMA’s national urban search and rescue program and Texas’ only statewide urban search and rescue team under direction of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which is headquartered here in College Station.” 

Brian Hilton, emergency management coordinator for the city of College Station, said holding the ceremony at the memorial site in Veteran’s Park makes 9/11 feel very personal to College Station.

“The War on Terror Memorial is a very unique place to visit and reflect not only my personal experiences in the military, but that Sept. 11, and the impact that it had on America,” Hilton said. 

Neu said the memorial service is important because remembering 9/11 is the first step to preventing a similar tragedy. 

“Most of us will view these tragic events through our own individual lenses,” Neu said. “But never forgetting them, in my opinion, is the first step to ensuring they will never happen again.”

Spectators can meet at the memorial in Veteran’s Park at 7:30 a.m. 

The service will have moment of silence before Neu speaks about his service in the Texas Army National Guard and how 9/11 was part of his decision to volunteer for military service.

The ceremony will conclude with the laying of a memorial wreath in honor of those who died in 9/11 and the symbolic ringing of a fire bell.