Patriot Day observed in New Albany

Patriot Day was observed in New Albany on the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 Muslim terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

In a noon ceremony at the Magnolia Civic Center in downtown New Albany, American Legion Potter-Henry-Lowrey Post 72 honored those killed on 9-11. The event also honored American military personnel going back to the eight-year American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783.

Patriots Day was celebrated in New Albany with a ceremony recognizing 9-11 victims and military personnel back to the Revolutionary War.

It was said that 1.3-million Americans have been killed in combat from colonial days to the present.

Including current and former military personnel who took part in the ceremony and an observing audience, about 175 people were present for the event.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Reginald Womack (U.S. Army, retired) was the speaker for the event.

Womack, who served on active duty with the U.S. military for 22 years, has continued working for the Pentagon as a civilian since his retirement from active duty. He has familial connections to Union County.

Womack is a special on the Middle East, had training in the Arabic language and his duties as a civilian are related to the Middle East.
Four passenger airliners were hijacked by a total of 19 Muslim terrorists in the United States the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon near Washington.

It is believed the terrorists intended to fly the fourth plane into another target in the District of Columbia, perhaps the White House. However, passengers on the fourth plane fought with the hijackers and it crashed in rural Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.
Altogether, 2,605 Americans were killed by the hijackers.

An additional 372 non-US citizens — including 19 terrorists — were killed that day. It is reported that an additional 1,400 rescue workers who responded to the scene on Sept. 11, 2001, have since died.