{"id":11411,"date":"2026-09-12T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=11411"},"modified":"2026-09-23T14:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T14:27:11","slug":"maryland-national-guard-honors-fallen-warriors-after-25th-anniversary-of-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2026\/09\/12\/maryland-national-guard-honors-fallen-warriors-after-25th-anniversary-of-9-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland National Guard honors Fallen Warriors after 25th Anniversary of 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Staff Sgt. Laura Weaver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BALTIMORE \u2013 The Maryland National Guard held its annual Fallen Warrior Memorial ceremony the day after the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9\/11 at the 5th Regiment Armory as a tribute to service members who died in defense of the nation, September 12, 2026.

Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the adjutant general of Maryland, Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families, Secretary Edward Rothstein, and Command Sgt. Maj. Larry LeCates, MDNG command senior enlisted leader, participated in the wreath-laying as part of the official party and rendered a salute during the playing of Taps by the Maryland Army National Guard\u2019s 229th Army Band.

The honor guard also placed a dog tag on a ceremonial battlefield cross for each war where Maryland Guard members were killed in action, including Maryland\u2019s 12 soldiers from the Global War on Terror.

\u201cCombat is personal, courage is personal, and service is personal,\u201d said Birckhead. \u201cWe are all people whose lives were changed by the deadly attacks in 2001, and we are surrounded by people who made it personal to dedicate their lives to making sure that it never happens again. This responsibility to our fallen warriors and to the nation they served inspires us and compels us to live a life worthy of their sacrifice.\u201d

Rothstein, who is a retired U.S. Army colonel with more than 30 years of service and deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, reflected on those who serve today.

\u201cRemembrance is not passive,\u201d said Rothstein. \u201cTo truly honor someone\u2019s memory is to carry something of them to allow the way they lived, served, and sacrificed to shape what we do next. In the Maryland National Guard, you ensure their memory is not only a blessing, but a mission. You are the living, breathing continuation of that promise to prosper in peace.\u201d

One of those who were remembered was Chief Warrant Officer 4 William R. Ruth, who was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Ruth served as a military aviator for more than 36 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and the Maryland Army National Guard. He spent more than 25 of those years assigned to the original aviation facility at the Edgewood Area. During his military career, he completed more than 800 combat aviation missions in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.

\u201cThis ceremony is a reminder of our freedom, and that freedom is not free,\u201d said Birckhead. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that this nation is linked to the strength and resilience of our people. The history book records every date and every decision, but we, the people, tell the story of our fallen warriors – our people, our legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Staff Sgt. Laura Weaver BALTIMORE \u2013 The Maryland National Guard held its annual Fallen Warrior Memorial ceremony the day after the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9\/11 at the 5th Regiment Armory as a tribute to service members who died in defense of the nation, September 12, 2026. Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead,  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":11426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11428,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11411\/revisions\/11428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}