Lawrence County Festival of Heroes to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

LAWRENCE CO. – Lawrence County Veteran Affairs Officer Brad Bough and Lawrence County Prosecutor Sam Arp have put together an event to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9/11.

The event will take place from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 11th, at the Lawrence County Courthouse.

Plans are to make this an annual event on the second Saturday of September.

The event will start at 11:00 a.m. with several activities scheduled throughout the day. This will allow the public to participate.

A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at noon. A wreath will be laid at the Veterans Memorial, and the second at the Law Enforcement Memorial.

Indiana State Police Trooper Samuel Gillespie

Indiana State Trooper Sam Gillespie the grandson of Robert Gillespie will be attending the event on Saturday. Robert Gillespie gave his life in the line of duty on June 8, 1962, when he was responding to a request for assistance on a call in Mitchell. Gillespie was involved in a traffic accident en route to the call and died from his injuries.

This event will honor those who serve as veterans and as emergency responders.

Silhouettes of soldiers during Military Mission at dusk.

The memories still linger after the terrible events of September 11, 2001. Several emergency personnel from the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department lost their lives trying to save others.

The United States rallied around the loved ones of these fallen heroes.

“Our military personnel throughout the nation went to protect our homeland abroad, and our emergency personnel protected our homeland throughout the United States,” said Bough.

Bough has previously served as a military police officer at Fort Carson and was serving as captain in the Indiana Department of Corrections when 9/11 happened.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel Arp, who began his career as an Indiana State trooper and now serves as Lawrence County Prosecutor. reflected on the event of September 11, 2001.

“I was a rookie trooper when 9/11 occurred and here I am trying to get ready for a wedding, while I was eating breakfast at Versalles Crossroads everybody runs to the television. It was almost like an out-of-body experience, we had pagers then, and I was paged to call dispatch immediately. They told us to kiss your loved ones goodbye, put all your stuff in your car and wait for orders,” said Arp. “You wondered what in the world is going on. We were deployed to all the bridges in Indiana for possible terrorist attacks.”

“Here I am ready to get married in ten days and I did not know whether I was going to get married or not,” said Arp.

Arp will soon celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary which will be on September 22, 2021.

Several local emergency agencies will take part in Saturday’s event. K-9 officers from the local police departments will be perform demonstrations. The Indiana State Police Bearcat, and many other emergency personnel will be coming in and out throughout the day.

Indiana Veterans Affairs will also attend.

Vendors from Smokin Jims BBQ, Buzy Bees Crazy Corn, Papa John’s, and Paparazzi Jewelry will also be attending the event.

For more information on this event contact Brad Bough at 812-275-6411.