By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


Students at one local school marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a Remembrance ceremony on Saturday.

The St. Mary Pinckney school honored both the victims and heroes of that day with the American Legion Memorial Post of Pinckney. American Legion veterans and former local firefighters came in uniform to lower the elementary school’s flag to half mast, and teach students about military and first responder heroes and the tragic events that took place 20 years ago.  

The school’s growing student body received special military dog tags assembled by parent volunteers to honor 9/11 heroes. Students in grades K-8 learned how to fold an American flag and other patriotic traditions from the American Legion Past Post Commander, Jim Wallace. Students were also able to ask questions about 9/11 and it’s significance in American history.

Wallace, a Vietnam vet from 1966-1968, grew up in Dexter and worked for the Pinckney Fire Department, then became an Ann Arbor firefighter in 1978. His granddaughter is a 5th grade student at St. Mary, and Wallace is a parishioner at St. Mary Catholic Church on Dexter-Pinckney Road.