The terror strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, and the resulting deaths of nearly 3,000 people will be remembered Thursday in ceremonies at San Diego Miramar College, where a $16.5 million building devoted to firefighter and emergency medical training will be dedicated.
The 10:30 a.m. ceremony is one of several scheduled to take place around the region to honor the firefighters, law enforcement officers and civilians who died in the terrorist attacks.
At Miramar College, the San Diego firefighters pipes and drums corps will perform, and Supervisor Dave Roberts is scheduled to present a $20,000 Neighborhood Reinvestment Program Grant to support the school's fire technology program.
The 22,900-square foot building includes laboratory support space, equipment staging areas, classrooms and administrative office space. Right outdoors is a training area with a drill tower and additional storage space, according to the college.
Elsewhere in San Diego County, thousands of American flags will be displayed, wreaths will be laid and a blood drive will be held.
At Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, 2,977 flags will be laid out on the campus' grand lawn to signify those who died in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11.
Scheduled speakers at the 10:30 a.m. event include Col. John Farnham, commanding officer at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar; Mark Arabo, a spokesman for the Iraqi Chaldean community; Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Lannon; and Sen. Joel Anderson, R-El Cajon.
At UC San Diego, John Cerda, chairman of the school's Veterans Association, will join members of the UCSD Police Department in placing a wreath at a commemorative tree on Warren Mall at 8 a.m. They plan to remain at the site until sunset.
The school will also observe a moment of silence at noon, when the bells at Geisel Library will ring a special carillon peal composed by Scott Paulson of UCSD's art library.
A wreath-laying ceremony is also scheduled for 2:30 p.m. aboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. Mayor Kevin Faulconer is scheduled to speak, and members of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department will participate.
The blood drive for the San Diego Blood Bank will take place at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The first 100 donors will receive a pair of passes to the Haunted Hotel in downtown San Diego or Haunted Trail in Balboa Park. Also, Darren Smith of the Mighty 1090 will host his sports radio show at the museum from noon to 3 p.m.
Names of victims of the 9/11 attacks will be read at Grossmont College in El Cajon beginning at 8 a.m., followed by a remembrance ceremony at 12:30 p.m. The lunchtime event will include remarks by student body President Rafael Navarrete, a former Marine sergeant; college President Sunita Cooke; and Cindy Miles, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District. The keynote speaker will be Lt. Col. Douglas Luccio, deputy operations officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
More than 60 cadets from San Diego State University's Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC programs will lower the flag near Hepner Hall to half-staff at 10 a.m., followed by a moment of silence, the sounding of "Taps" and a short prayer.
A 9/11 remembrance ceremony will be held at 7:15 a.m. at Sunnyside Elementary School. The students will honor the military, police officers and firefighters, and will conduct a jog-a-thon to raise money for reading programs.
Susan Murphy contributed to this report.
