Northern Michigan University will ring its carillon tower bells at 8:46 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, marking the exact moment the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center 25 years ago.
The bells and a moment of silence will open a morning of remembrance in Marquette that includes a ceremony honoring Lt. Col. Kip Taylor, an NMU graduate killed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Taylor was 38.
Community members can gather at 9:30 a.m. at Veteran Rock on the Northern Center lawn, where NMU's Department of Military Science and ROTC program will present the colors and a memorial flag in Taylor's honor. Maj. Jeffrey Woleben is scheduled to speak, WBUP/WJMN reported.
Taylor grew up around the world before his family settled in Marquette, where his father, Lt. Col. Donald R. Taylor, headed NMU's military science program. Kip Taylor came to Northern on basketball and ROTC scholarships, captained the basketball team and graduated with a management degree in 1985. His father commissioned him into the Army's Adjutant General Corps that December, according to the Pentagon Memorial.
By September 2001, Taylor was serving as an aide to the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel at the Pentagon. He was among 125 people killed inside the building when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it.
Just over an hour before the attacks, Taylor emailed friends about how fatherhood had changed his life. He and his wife, Nancy, had a son, Dean, and a second baby on the way, according to NMU's news archive.
"After kids, there are days that just get going when you say, 'Hi honey, I'm home,'" Taylor wrote in that email. "My conclusion is that what we do until that moment pales in comparison to what we do after that point in the day."
Taylor was killed six weeks before the birth of his second son, Luke. He received the Legion of Merit and Purple Heart posthumously. A plaque honoring his memory was dedicated at Veteran Rock in 2009.
The university is also staging "Find a TV," an original theater production recounting how the NMU campus and Upper Peninsula communities reacted on the day of the attacks. Three free performances are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17, 18 and 19 in Jamrich Hall Room 1100 as part of NMU's Homecoming activities. Attendees are encouraged to reserve tickets online.
Upcoming
- Friday, Sept. 11, 8:46 a.m.: Carillon bell ringing and moment of silence, NMU campus
- Friday, Sept. 11, 9:30 a.m.: Memorial ceremony for Lt. Col. Kip Taylor, Veteran Rock, Northern Center lawn
- Sept. 17-19, 7:30 p.m.: "Find a TV" performances, Jamrich Hall Room 1100 (free; reserve tickets online)
