By The Public Communications Office
In this episode of “What’s Up, College Station?” Marketing Coordinator Grace Hallowell and Brazos County Sheriff Wayne Dicky – a member of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial board – discuss Monday’s 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the War on Terror site at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
Transcript
Grace Hallowell:
What’s Up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell, and today I’m joined with a special guest, Sheriff Wayne Dicky from the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. Hello, how are you?
Wayne Dicky:
I’m doing great. How are you today?
Grace Hallowell:
I’m doing well. Typically, on What’s Up, we have a city employee talking about different things going on in the city, but today we’re here to talk about something important and special, the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony that’s taking place on September 11th. So talk about, I know College Station kind of has a special connection to 9/11. So kind of give us a brief history of this event and what your involvement is.
Wayne Dicky:
Well, the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial is a nonprofit organization that works to recognize veterans in our community. And so this is the group that oversees the exhibits at Veterans Park. And as part of that, one of the 14 exhibits out there is the War on Terror exhibit, and it includes a piece of the World Trade Center, a lifestyle statue of a police officer, a firefighter, and a special operations soldier. And so it’s part of our effort to recognize veterans and to keep their memory alive
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. And the War on Terror especially, at least for me, it’s the first war that I remember watching on the news and growing up with and hearing about. So it’s a very unique piece that we have out there at Veterans Park because it definitely impacted us as a nation and it’s still impacting us today. So with this remembrance ceremony, what is to be expected or what’s involved in the actual event?
Wayne Dicky:
So we’ll get together on the 11th at 5:30 to remember those that gave their lives in service to our country. And the event will include presentations and comments, but we’re really excited about our keynote speaker, Chief Nim Kidd.
Grace Hallowell:
Give us a little bit of background on him. I’m new to the area, so I just learned about what A&M and College Station’s involvement was with 9/11.
Wayne Dicky:
Nim Kidd is the chief of the Texas Department of Emergency Management. And so in his current role, he helps Texas respond to emergencies, but he’s got a long history with our community as well. He was one of the original members of Texas Task Force 1 in 1997, and as a member of that team, he was sent to the World Trade Center and was the planning section chief following 9/11.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, a very difficult task I’m sure that he had to take on at a moment’s notice and something that we should remember and memorialize what not only we as a nation but our first responders went through as well.
Wayne Dicky:
One of the things that I think is going to be unique about this event is that he’s going to bring a perspective that we haven’t heard before and he’s going to talk about his firsthand accounts of being onsite. And I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for our community to learn more about what went on that day.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, because you’ve watched all the documentaries, we’ve seen the news, but yeah, having that firsthand account definitely gives a different perspective on things. When is the event, what time and where in Veterans Park is it located?
Wayne Dicky:
The event will be held on September 11th at 5:30 at Veterans Park. The specific location, weather permitting, is at the War on Terror site, which is right up front closest to the parking lot. So it’s easy access and it’s a free event and we encourage everybody in the community to come and participate and learn more about the park.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. So talk a little bit about what the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial, what else they do in the community apart from events like these?
Wayne Dicky:
Another event that’s coming up is of course the Veterans Day event. This year it’s moved to November 12th because of A&M football, but nonetheless, that’s going to be a really good event and we will invite the public out again to be a part of that. The Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Organization is committed to remembering veterans. And so there are 18 planned remembrances of different wars and conflicts that have occurred, and 14 of those are now there available at the park. And so what we hope is that when people come out for this event on September 11th, they’ll also take a few extra minutes and walk around through the beautiful park and see those other memorials as well.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, I have been out there once and before that I had only seen pictures. But it really is something to see, especially I’m sure we all know a veteran or have one in our family or maybe even ourselves are a veteran. So it’s very special to walk through there and think of the veterans that we know in our own lives.
Wayne Dicky:
And that’s another important part of the event on November 12th, is that they’ll be adding more than a hundred new names to the wall of honor of local Brazos Valley veterans that have served. And so it’s another way that we can recognize people that sacrificed for our freedom.
Grace Hallowell:
Where can people find out more information if they have questions or want to know more about what you guys do or these events?
Wayne Dicky:
Well, the best place to get information is on our website and that’s bvvm.org. All the events that we’ve talked about today are on the website. You can also get more information about the history of the organization and other details.
Grace Hallowell:
Well, thank you so much for joining me today.
Wayne Dicky:
Yeah, it’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me on and talk more about this.
Grace Hallowell:
Yeah, you’re welcome. And that’s What’s Up.
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