Honolulu Community College sheet metal students by the custom made 9/11 memorial.

News Release from Honolulu Community College

The pubic is invited to attend a special 9/11 commemoration at 11 a.m. on the campus of Honolulu Community College on Monday, September 12.

The college is home to a permanent 9/11 memorial that was dedicated in September 2006. The United States flag replica was crafted by Honolulu CC sheet metal students and contains compartments with actual pieces of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon roof, and soil from the field in which United Flight 175 crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania near Shanksville. This memorial site is one of the few in America with crime scene evidence from all three places on public display.

When/Time: Monday, September 12, 2011 at 11 a.m.
Where: Honolulu Community College, 874 Dillingham Blvd.

In-between the Children’s Center and Building 2 off of the campus mall next to the Berlin Wall Monument
The commemoration will include a welcome by Honolulu CC Chancellor Michael T. Rota and a keynote address by speech instructor Barbara Dias who will give her eye-witness account to the attack on the Pentagon that she saw from across the street, later aiding in the clean up efforts.

Sheet metal instructor Danny Aiu and his students will explain how the flag monument was created and its symbolism. A piece of granite with all of the names of those who perished during the attacks will be added to the monument this year.
For the ninth year, sheet metal students are making two American flags to be displayed on the campus mall. The two flags will be given away to a public organization for future display.
During the program, Honolulu CC fire science students will ask for a moment of silence as they start the chirping of their detectors. The eerie electronic wails heard during the 9/11 attacks are the locator beacons of firefighters who stopped moving after the collapse. The beacons are worn to help other firemen locate the incapacitated firefighter in the event of an emergency.

Throughout the commemoration will be a color guard presentation, playing of the bag pipes, patriotic music, hula, and lei draping, as students of the ‘9/11 generation’ share their perspective of the events that have shaped our nation’s history forever.