[VIDEO] 9/11 Memorial Held in Benton Harbor

9-11

Berrien County is remembering the people lost on September 11, 2001 17 years since the attacks on the country.

On Tuesday, a memorial service was held at the Resiliency Plaza in downtown Benton Harbor, where a steel beam from the World Trade Center has hung since the plaza was first dedicated in 2015. Local organization Berrien County Strong hosted the event, which saw many speakers calling for a return to the sense of unity that Americans felt in the aftermath of the attacks.

“We have to look beyond ideological, philosophical differences, and see the humanity that lies within each and every person that is here today,” said Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad.

“We remembered, in fact, that what binds us together is the fact that we are Americans,” State Senator John Proos added.

Congressman Fred Upton recalled how he was in Washington D.C. that day when the Pentagon was hit by one of the hijacked planes.

“They of course had it on the TV, and you saw this awful smoke,” Upton said. “Then we looked out the window, and we saw the smoke.”

The beam was brought to Berrien County in 2010 through a collaboration between the American Red Cross of Southwest Michigan and New York City.