Howard Co. Ceremony Marks 25th Anniversary Of 9/11 Terror Attacks

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Communities across Maryland will pause Friday to mark 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with ceremonies honoring the nearly 3,000 people who were killed and the first responders who risked, and, in many cases, later lost their lives.

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four airplanes, flying two into New York City's World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Passengers fought back on the fourth, United Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The deadliest U.S. terror attack killed 2,977 victims.

Larger observances will be held at the three sites in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, attacked 25 years ago.

Howard County leaders will hold the annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony starting at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11 at the Garden of Hope, marking the time the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Nearly 3,000 Americans, including 4 from Howard County, were killed in the suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida.

Four Howard County residents died in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The ceremony will honor them, as well as all individuals who died that day. There will be a wreath-laying and tribute to honor all lives lost that day.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, local officials and leaders from the county police and fire departments, plus the sheriff's office, will be on hand at the Garden of Hope, located in Centennial Park South, 10000 MD 108, in Ellicott City.

Below are the four Howard County residents who lost their lives that day:

Sarah M. Clark, 65, Columbia, Aboard American Airlines Flight 77
Sarah was a sixth-grade teacher at Backus Middle School in Washington, D.C., the parent of two adult children and was engaged to be married to John Milton Wesley. Sarah was involved in a science and geography project and had been selected to attend an oceanographic expedition in Santa Barbara, California, accompanied by one of her students, 11-year-old Asia Cottom, as well as two other teachers and students. She left at 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 11 to meet Asia’s father at their home and drive to Dulles International Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

Col. Ronald F. Golinski, Pentagon
Golinski, a retired Army colonel, was working in a civilian job in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel at the Pentagon. He’d held many positions during his 36-year Army career, including director of the Enlisted Personnel Management Directorate at the Army Reserve Personnel Command in St. Louis, Missouri. His awards include the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Golinski was married to Irene and had three daughters, one of whom was married just nine days before the terror attacks.

Ian J. Gray, Aboard American Airlines Flight 77
Scottish-born Ian J. Gray was instrumental in the creation of McBee Associates, a national health-care finance and management consulting firm based in Columbia. Gray emigrated from Scotland to the U.S. in 1968. He helped start McBee in the late 1970s. His wife, Ana Raley, was the chief executive of Greater Southeast Community Hospital. They had a daughter and a stepson. He enjoyed volunteering with the Special Olympics and the Art Deco Society of Washington.

Lt. J.G. Darin Howard Pontell, Pentagon
When he was just 14, Pontell knew he wanted to enlist in the Navy. His older brother Steven, a Navy pilot, had been killed not too long prior in a crash on the USS Lexington off Pensacola, Florida. Lt. J.G. Pontell graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. He married Devora Volk, an attorney, then began working at the Pentagon. He celebrated his 26th birthday a month before 9/11. During his naval career, he received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Naval Commendation Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. Pontell was buried next to his brother in the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Cemetery.

VA Way will host Blues for the Brave, a live music fundraiser marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The event will feature performances by Kelly Bell Band, Sweet Leda and Lower Case Blues while raising awareness and support for veterans, first responders and mental health programs, including peer-support groups and family resources. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the Sept. 11 event, which will be held at Reckless Shepherd Brewery, 8895 McGaw Road, in Columbia.

The toll has continued to grow. Thousands of survivors, first responders and people who lived, worked or attended school near the attack sites have developed cancers and other illnesses linked to toxic exposure during the rescue, recovery and cleanup.

Former Presidents At Ground Zero

As is traditional, the names of the 2,977 people killed in the 9/11 attacks and six others who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack will be read at a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan.

Four former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — are expected to attend the 25th-anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.

President Donald Trump is not expected at Ground Zero. Vice President JD Vance will represent the administration in New York.

The ceremony will be livestreamed. That evening, the annual Tribute in Light will send twin beams into the sky, accompanied this year by a one-hour national broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic and ABC News Live.

Trump At Pentagon Observance

Trump will attend the 9/11 observance at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the structure

Defense and military leaders traditionally gather for a ceremony centered on the memorial’s 184 illuminated benches, one for each victim. Details about public access to the Pentagon ceremony and a possible livestream had not yet been posted on the Pentagon Memorial’s official webpage on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Memorial Details

The Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, begins with an 8:30 a.m. ceremony that includes the reading of the 40 passengers’ and crew members’ names, the Bells of Remembrance, and wreath-layings timed to the four attacks.

A second ceremony begins at 1 p.m., and both will be livestreamed. A luminaria ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.

Stephen M. Clark, the superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial, will lead the morning remembrance events. Confirmed speakers at the afternoon ceremony include Gordie Felt, the brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward P. Felt, and Capt. Morrie Wiener (Ret.), the pilot who flew Flight 93 prior to September 2001.

Trump administration officials are expected to attend and lay wreaths on behalf of the federal government, though top executive leaders are split across other national sites.

‘Steel Across America’

Trump hosted first responders and FDNY officials at the White House on Tuesday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The event featured a 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower and carried across the country by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit created in memory of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed responding to the attacks.

The foundation provides mortgage-free and specially adapted homes to families of fallen or severely injured first responders and military members, assists homeless veterans and supports 9/11 education and remembrance programs. Its 10,500-mile “Steel Across America” tour has taken the beam to more than 35 cities in at least 21 states and will conclude Friday at Ground Zero.