Locals remember 9/11 victims
The event featured three speakers and performances by two religious choirs.
Published Sept. 13, 2005
About 300 people gathered in the Boone County Courthouse Square on Sunday for a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The event included three speakers and two religious choirs.
Eighteen organizations co-sponsored the events that honored the Sept. 11 victims. The event also remembered the lives lost in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Sharon Welch, a professor of religious studies and a member of the Mid-Missouri Chapter of Global Action to Prevent War, summarized the ethical commitments people can make from their grief in her speech.
"We need to recognize the victims of 9/11 and their significance," Welch said. "I think it is a mistake that these peoples' deaths have become the justification for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important to not only remember the deaths, but also the out-flowing support after the terrorist attacks internationally."
Hickman High School student Saxon Brown said the vigil is important because, instead of protesting or talking about solutions to the war in Iraq, it is important to remember how the war started.
"From a political standpoint, it's important to say we may not support the war or the government, but that we still grieve for those who died," Brown said. "It also is an important statement to separate the deaths of 9/11 from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
On Sept. 11, 2001, the first candlelight vigil was held in Peace Park, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks Director Mark Haim said. The theme of the event was "No More Victims."
"Right after 9/11, we saw that these horrific crimes could be used as an excuse for a war in oil-rich nations and that we wanted no new victims," Haim said. "Today, more than ever, we need to renew our commitment to ending the permanent war and instead redirect our resources into healing, reconciliation and eliminating the causes of war and terror."
The vigil was held at a time when people are focused on the current tragedy unfolding in the Gulf Coast area with Hurricane Katrina.
"I think all the tragedies tie together," Haim said. "We have prioritized all of our resources in conquering oil-rich counties and so we have no resources to lend support to those suffering from Hurricane Katrina."