Woodbridge, Va. — Officials and the community remembered 22 people from Prince William County who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
Ten years later on Saturday they gathered outside the Freedom Park at the county’s government center in Woodbridge and laid a carnation at the base of a reflecting pool for each of the victims.
“We have to remember the 22 Prince William County residents who lost their lives that day, most at the Pentagon, some in New York, all of them lived in Prince William,” said Virginia Transportation Secretary and former Prince William Board Chairman Sean Connaughton.
At least 200 people came to the remembrance ceremony, which featured a band and orchestra and a candle lighting for the victims.
Connaughton called Prince William a community of public servants, and because many of the residents are immigrants, it is the “ultimate melting pot.”
The Freedom Park Memorial is open each day of the year and features the names of county residents who died on September 11.
