For the 18th year Killeen ISD will host a community gathering to remember and honor everyday heroes.
The annual freedom walk is set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 11 beginning at the Killeen High School auditorium and continuing at adjacent Leo Buckley Stadium.
It will commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attack on America September 11, 2001.
KISD Community Relations Director Angenet Wilkerson, organizer for the walk, was reflecting during Labor Day weekend about 911.
“Twenty-three years ago, on Labor Day we had no idea what was coming the next week,” she said.
On Tuesday, eight days before this year’s scheduled walk, she specified the importance of honoring first-responder and military personnel heroes and their family members, as well as the annual teachable moment and the importance of living prepared.
“We celebrate the heroes of 911, the first responders and the soldiers – their families are also heroes,” she said.
One of those Gold Star Family members, Cindy Hildner, is set to speak during this year’s event.
Killeen Fire Chief James Kubinski is also scheduled to address the audience to explain the significance of the practice of tolling a bell 11 times near the conclusion of the walk.
The program includes a video that features local leaders who share memories from the day 23 years ago when hijacked commercial airliners crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon building.
As a school system, said Wilkerson, “education is important. Everyone who remembers that day has a story, an experience, that’s a history lesson we want to keep telling.”
Following the formal program that includes students leading through presenting the colors and leading the National Anthem, along with guest speakers and the video, participants will walk from the auditorium to the stadium.
Guests from Fort Cavazos, local law enforcement, chosen high school leaders, JROTC, drumline and all participating residents will take a lap around the stadium track and finish the event with the bell tolls and Taps.
Concurrent with the community walk, many KISD campuses will host patriotic assemblies, freedom walks through hallways or around school buildings and classroom activities centered on Patriot Day and honoring everyday heroes.
See photos from the 2023 community freedom walk and the campus walk at Cavazos Elementary School.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720320031106
