Community remembrances mark anniversary of 9/11
Published 3:21 pm Friday, September 11, 2026
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School children wave flags while singing “I’m Just a Flag Waving American” during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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School children, military veterans and members of Bowling Green and Warren County’s law enforcement community roll up a large American flag following a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Members of the Woodburn Fire Department watch as Dawn Wiles speaks on the legacy of 9/11 during a remembrance ceremony in the hangar at Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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The Bowling Green Fire Department color guard presents the colors during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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School children, military veterans and members of Bowling Green and Warren County’s law enforcement community wave a large American flag while singing the “Star Spangled Banner” during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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School children, military veterans and members of Bowling Green and Warren County’s law enforcement community wave a large American flag while singing the “Star Spangled Banner” during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Bowling Green Police Chief Michael Delaney (right) and Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower help unfurl a large American flag during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower speaks on his military service following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks during a ceremony at Legacy Christian Academy paying tribute to those lost on 9/11 on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Todd Wiles speaks during a remembrance ceremony in the hangar at Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
For those who lived through the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the memories of where they were and what they were doing are indelible.
At a pair of community events Friday commemorating the 25th anniversary of the attacks, survivors and others were on hand to share their memories and pass on important things they learned from their experiences.
Legacy Christian Academy traditionally holds an assembly each Sept. 11 in which speakers are invited to address students, who become part of the program by singing patriotic songs and expressing thanks to law enforcement, military and paramedics.
Friday’s function marked the 20th year the school has held this commemoration service.
Various first responders, law enforcement leaders and military veterans spoke at the event, which organizers said provides an opportunity to give students insight into the lifesaving actions of those who responded to the emergency that day in New York and elsewhere, many of whom lost their lives while doing so.
The event ended with the unfurling of a giant American flag behind the school and the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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“I hope the students learn gratitude for those who have served them, and hopefully some of them will realize that they too can become that kind of person, someone that is a community leader, someone that gives of themselves to help others in a time of need,” said Legacy Christian principal Jerry Gifford.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed as a result of the attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Jim Allen, a Bowling Green resident, worked in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, as the Public Affairs Officer for the Secretary of the Army.
Allen said Friday he remembered watching on TV and seeing the second plane fly into the Twin Towers in New York and getting a sense of the gravity of the situation, so he rushed back to his office to reconfigure his schedule.
It was then that another plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon that contained his office.
“Wrong place, wrong time for me, but luckily I wasn’t hurt,” Allen said.
Allen gathered his staff together to execute their evacuation plan, and after they left, he went back inside to see how he could help.
“I took off toward the crash site trying to help people out of the building,” Allen said. “It’s quite a feat in itself just getting in and out of the building on a normal day, but it was full of smoke, heat, fire and there was a lot of panic … it was probably way late in the afternoon before I could get in touch with my family to tell them I was alive.”
Warren County Sheriff Bret Hightower, Officer Ronnie Ward of the Bowling Green Police Department and Jeff Dempsey of Warren County EMS also spoke at the assembly, encouraging people to remember the sacrifice of the first responders who lost their lives on that fateful day.
Aviation Heritage Park and Museum held a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Friday afternoon, featuring guest speaker U.S. Air Force Brigadier Gen. Todd Wiles.
A graduate of Warren East High School and Western Kentucky University, Wiles served as a forward air controller during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, providing air support to U.S. Army forces and later served a combat tour in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, earning a Bronze Star Medal and other honors.
