The Colorado Springs area will commemorate the nearly 3,000 who died and 6,000 people who were injured in the 9/11 terrorist attacks 24 years ago during several memorials.

Former President George W. Bush declared the anniversary of the attacks Patriot Day in 2005 to memorialize the lives lost. 

“By flying the flag, supporting military families, and teaching young people about our founding ideals, we honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001,” he said at the time. 

Most of the local gatherings will take place Thursday morning. They are free and open to the public.

University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Military Affairs Council will host a remembrance at 9 a.m. Thursday for the community on campus in front of Gateway Hall. During the ceremony, the flag will be lowered and the group will walk together to the Engineering Building for a moment of silence and remarks from members of the campus and community. Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade will attend. 

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The Mitchell High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps will hold a memorial for the community at 10 a.m. Thursday outside the school’s flagpole. The annual event has been held since 2002. 

The event will honor Kathryn Yancey LaBorie, a Mitchell High School graduate who was serving as a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 175. The plane hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The ceremony will also mark the beginning of a yearlong bike ride across America led by retired California firefighter John Martin to honor those lost in the attacks. 

Schriever Space Force Base will host a memorial for those who have access to the base. The ceremony will take place at 8:30 a.m. at the Event Center on base at 20 Falcon Parkway. Col. Eric Bogue, Space Base Delta 41 commander, Lt. Col. Brandon Goebel, 50th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, and El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal will speak. 

The Manitou Springs Fire Department will host firefighters, first responders and members of the public for a group walk up the Manitou Incline at 8 a.m. Thursday. The event typically draws 50 to 200 people. The Incline is closed to nonparticipants until 9 a.m.

Participants can park at the Dillon Mobility Hub at 134 Manitou Ave. A shuttle runs between the parking lot and the Incline every 15 minutes. 

The Teller County Sheriff’s Office is hosting a memorial at 9 a.m. Thursday at Lions Park in Woodland Park at the intersection of Colorado 67 and U.S. 24. 

Mt. Carmel will host it’s Patriot Day Give Back event 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the Norris Penrose Event Center upper lot. The nonprofit will be distributing food and nonperishable items first to active duty, veterans and first responders in the morning, although they are welcome all day. The community is welcome to attend the event in the afternoon. Mt. Carmel asks those who are interested to register for a timeslot on Eventbrite. 

“Patriot Day is a somber remembrance of the sacrifices made during the Global War on Terror and the lives lost at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,” said Mt. Carmel’s Executive Director Bob McLaughlin, in a statement.  

The sacrifices of those who fought in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are also honored at a memorial outside Fort Carson’s Gate 1 that can be visited at any time. The memorial features a steel beam from the World Trade Center and a wall listing the names of more than 400 soldiers from Fort Carson who died in the post 9/11 wars.