GRANITE CITY - The Pledge of Allegiance took on added significance today at Maryville Elementary School, where students and staff gathered around the flagpole to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and observe Patriot Day.
The gathering continued an annual tradition under Maryville Elementary Principal Liz Niepert’s leadership.
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Students and staff marked the occasion by reciting the pledge together, with many showing patriotic spirit by wearing American flag shirts and homemade red, white and blue hats.
Patriot Day honors the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes in a coordinated attack against the United States. The attacks killed 2,977 victims, not including the hijackers, and included citizens from more than 80 countries.
American Airlines Flight 11 was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, and United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. Both towers later collapsed. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought the hijackers. The plane was believed to be headed toward the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvzC8K1wYzg
