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CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- The LaFollette Church of God will conduct a 25-year tribute service for the attacks of 9-11 on the 13th of September, 2026, at 10:30 am, in the church sanctuary. The public is invited. WLAF-TV 1089 and www.1450wlaf.com will televise Sunday’s ceremony live.
Additionally, here is a history of when the first memorial 9-11 tribute began here in Campbell County in September 2002.
9-11 History Story from JROTC 2002- Present
July 2002: CCHS JROTC cadets come up with an idea to build models of the Twin Towers, Pentagon, Map of Pennsylvania and airplanes for a 9-11 Ceremony on the one-year anniversary.
Cadets, Cadre and the JROTC Booster club built all the above and printed the names of all those killed in the buildings, airplanes as well as Pennsylvania.
This was a MONUMENTAL TASK considering pencil lining all buildings, and cadets printing all names on the buildings, map, pentagon and airplanes. This was done in 4 different class periods. Keeping the names in correct alphabetical, building, and plane order was tough. Keeping the names close to same size and STRAIGHT (with no curving up/down) was even harder. Ask any CCHS student that was in JROTC at that time how stressful it was.
Ceremony 11 SEP 2002 – The JROTC Department conducted a night ceremony in the football stadium. It included the JROTC Department, the CCHS Band, county singers, the Campbell County Dance School/Team, the unfurling of a 20X39 foot Garrison Flag, and a helicopter fly-over at the ceremony’s end as “Taps” was played in an ECHO fashion at the stadium corner tops
A HUGE SUCCESS/MEMORIAL TRIBUTE.
Every year thereafter the JROTC Department put the same display out at the front of Campbell County High School with the 20X39’ Garrison Flag unfurled for the day behind the display (just in front of the CCHS Library windows). This was done for the years 2003-2014.11 SEP 2021 – The LaFollette Church of God (LCOG) proposed a 9-11 ceremony for the 20th anniversary of 9-11. The church sought out the 9-11 display items from the CCHS JROTC Department. The church was told that the towers, pentagon, airplanes and Pennsylvania map got thrown away due to termite damage. The LCOG decided to rebuild everything and re-print all the names. Construction started in June 2021. Planning the ceremony started in April 2021. Church members built, painted, and wrote all the names on the twin towers, the pentagon, Pennsylvania map and the airplanes.
Final 2021 Ceremony Preparation – Requests for singers, program planning, and helicopter support requests were made. Some support requests went through the Tennessee Attorney General and the United States Army’s Public Affairs Office in the Pentagon. Ultimately no fly-over was permitted, but a helicopter display was approved. LCOG still pursued some type of aircraft fly-over. A civilian display company provided a 40X70’ foot long US flag. It was pulled by a fixed wing aircraft for a circle fly-over around the church. Donnie York sang Toby Keith’s song “BROUGHT TO YOU COURTESY OF THE RED WHITE AND BLUE”; and PYRO SHOWS fired off salute fireworks north of the church.
Current 9-11 Display – The 9-11 Display in front of the LaFollette Church of God has been reprinted in some parts due to sun fading in the storage area. It will be up during the first week around 11 September.
Stop by and see if any of your known friends who died or served in the towers, pentagon, or attacking airplanes are listed. If they are not there, the LaFollette Church of God staff will add them.
Tribute Ceremony – September 13th, 2026:
The LaFollette Church of God will conduct a 25-year tribute service for the attacks of 9-11 on the 13th of September, 2026 at 10:30 AM in the church sanctuary. The public is invited. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/10/2026-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)