An important historical artifact has come to Maryland.
On Wednesday, Maryland’s 9/11 Rolling Memorial, created by The Hope and Peace Foundation, received one of the five remaining pieces of stone from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
The piece was mounted to the rolling memorial in remembrance of all who died that day, including the 53 Marylanders who were killed while inside the Pentagon or on-board AA Flight 77 which crashed into it at 9:37 a.m. There names were read aloud on Wednesday as a bell tolled to commemorate each life lost. The ceremony was held in the parking lot at McAvoy’s in the Putty Hill Shopping Center on Wednesday afternoon.
The rolling memorial headed to the Pentagon on Wednesday morning to be presented with the piece, then they brought it back to Parkville.
Hope and Peace Foundation founder Chuck Ritz also created the “Path of Honor,” in which a 3/4-mile stretch of Putty Hill Avenue in Parkville is decorated each year with 2,977 flags, one representing each victim of 9/11.
Ritz said the idea for the rolling memorial was inspired by the Bells of Remembrance, a 9/11 memorial project conceived by Brother David Schlatter as a tribute to his friend and mentor, Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to the New York City Fire Department and the first certified victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The bells are rung in New York, Boston, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania every year to commemorate each person that died in the terrorist attacks and are also displayed at commemorative events.
Ritz and The Hope and Peace Foundation included one of Schlatter’s bells in the Maryland memorial.
The Maryland 9/11 Rolling Memorial currently features the bell along with four bronze plaques inscribed with the names of those lost and the timeline of events on 9/11.
Also in attendance on Wednesday were representatives from Delegate Christian Miele’s office, representatives from Maryland Gold Star Mothers, and Chris Montcalmo, NottinghamMD.com founder and incoming president of the Parkville Carney Business Association.
Photos from Wednesday’s ceremony are below.
