Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - Flags will be lowered to half-staff today, as people across Gwinnett and the nation remember the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I am deeply saddened by the memory of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center," Chairman Charles Bannister said. "As a former Marine, I believe that we must protect and defend our freedom from those who would take it away. The world has changed in many ways since I was a young man, but we still have fanaticism, we still have tyrants and we still have people who must not be allowed to take control of the world."

Local firefighters will commemorate heroes from the attacks, which killed more than 100 New York City firefighters when the Twin Towers collapsed.

Registration opens for the annual "Ride to Remember 9-11" at 8:48 a.m. At 9:55 a.m., a memorial service will begin at the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial, located outside the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville. The motorcycle ride, hosted by Red Knights of Georgia, Chapter 1, a firefighters' biker organization, will begin at 10:29 a.m. and will arrive at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth for a ceremony at 1 p.m.