City of College Station Blog

By Colin Killian, Public Communications Director

On Sept. 11, 2001, our nation changed forever.

For more than two decades, we’ve remembered 9/11 not only as a day of infamy but also as a time that unified our nation and brought us together as Americans and patriots.  

This year marks the 23rd anniversary of the infamous terrorist attacks on our country. Commemorating that day is especially significant in communities such as College Station, where military connections are especially deep. 

The Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial board invites you to its annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the War on Terror site in College Station’s Veterans Park and Athletic Complex. Admission is free.

The ceremony includes 5-5-5 bell ringing, wreath laying, a 21-gun salute, Silver Taps, and a keynote address by retired Brig. Gen. Bentley Nettles, a decorated war veteran and former executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

As a student at Texas A&M, Nettles was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and ultimately rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Texas Army National Guard. Nettles has been deployed to multiple combat theaters, including Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, and a Purple Heart.

The War on Terror site includes a steel relic from one of the World Trade Center towers and life-sized bronze statues representing a police officer, firefighter, and special operations soldier.

While Texas A&M has produced more officers than any institution other than the service academies, our community is also the proud home of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial, the George Bush Presidential Library, and the Museum of the American G.I.

About the Blogger

Colin Killian has been with the City of College Station since 2010 after serving 23 years as the associate media relations director for the Texas A&M Athletics Department. He has also worked as a reporter and editor for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and Lewisville News. A native of Hobbs, N.M., Killian graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/political science.

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