25th Anniversary 9/11 Walk to Remember Set for Sept. 13

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Most people who are old enough remember Sept. 11, 2001, know exactly where they were on that fateful day. The details arrive with an almost involuntary precision: a television on in a classroom or office, an interrupted phone call, a radio or television report that did not seem possible until it was repeated.

For those born later, the day exists differently — as photographs, names, anniversaries and the inherited gravity of an event that reshaped the country before they had entered it.

Both generations are asked to remember the event as part of the 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Walk, Sept 13.

Residents will gather at the Rock Springs Fire Department, at 135 S.C. 413, for the walk to the Belton City Fire Department, at 306 Anderson St. a route that covers approximately 2.5 miles.

At the end of the walk, a bell will be tolled in tribute to those who died on Sept. 11 and to the first responders whose courage became part of the nation’s permanent memory.

“Our goal is to make sure no one forgets,” said Anderson County Councilman Greg Elgin, who also serves as chief of the Rock Springs Fire Department. “We want them to remember. We especially want to make sure the younger generation remembers.”

Not everyone needs to make the full walk to participate. Organizers invite residents to line Anderson Street as the procession passes, or to join the gathering at Belton City Square when it arrives. Fire trucks and food trucks will be on the Belton square following the ringing of the bell, creating the familiar small-town setting in which solemnity and fellowship can exist beside one another.

The afternoon will conclude with food, conversation and a quieter form of civic companionship. Shaved ice and food from A Taste of Freedom will be available. Memorial T-shirts are also being sold in advance, with shipping expected during the first week of September.

A quarter-century after the attacks, remembrance requires effort. It must be taught as well as felt, carried forward by people who remember the day firsthand and by those who know it through the stories, silences and ceremonies left behind. On Sept. 13 in Belton, the act of walking from one fire station to another will offer a way to do both.