Led by members of Marietta College’s chapter of Student Veterans of America, student groups volunteered their time Tuesday to create a memorial honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The memorial, made up of American flags and flags representing some of the countries also impacted by the attacks, is in the greenspace beside Legacy Library.
Among those volunteers was Political Science major Jon White ’24 (Davisville, West Virginia), a retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant who is also a member of Student Veterans of America.
“It’s always important to commemorate 9/11 because of all of the lives that were lost,” White said. “They weren’t just American lives, as you can see, there were people from all over the world who were lost on that day. I was in boot camp during 9/11, so it holds a special place in my heart because that’s when my purpose became real for me.”
SVA invited other student groups, including the Student Government Association (SGA), political clubs and Greek organizations to help install the flags.
Health Science major Shay Allshouse ’26 (West Salem, Ohio), Vice President of SGA, was proud to be able to honor the memory of lives lost and lives impacted because of 9/11.
“We want to commemorate such an important day in our history. We want to thank everyone who put their lives on the line because of this day and remember everyone who lost their life or who was affected by the event.”
The flags will be on display until Thursday, September 12, when student volunteers will remove them.