The 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001 will be observed in Ceres at a special 9/11 Memorial Service at Whitmore Park.

The Ceres Post of the American Legion will be sponsoring the event which begins at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The service will include the posting of the colors, a prayer led by a pastor, a remembrance by Legion Commander Pete Samaniego, reading of locations roll call of departed, a moment of silence, playing of taps and rifle salute for citizens, first-responders and military personnel who died on that dark day in American history.

The public is encouraged to attend the short service.

The attack was made by Islamic extremists who hijacked three airliners loaded with passengers and flew them into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. Passengers aboard Flight 93 foiled the planned attack on another site in Washington, D.C. and the plane ended up coming down into a Pennsylvania corn field, killing a total of 40 and he four hijackers.

More than 2,600 people died at the World Trade Center in New York City, 125 died at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 256 died on the four planes. The death toll surpassed that at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.

A total of 2,996 victims were confirmed to have died in the attacks. In 2007, the New York City medical examiner’s office began to add people who died of illnesses caused by exposure to dust from the site to the official death toll.

Medical authorities concluded that over 1,140 persons who worked, lived or studied in Lower Manhattan at the time of the attack have been diagnosed with cancer as a result of “exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.”

It has been reported that the lives of over 1,400 rescue workers who responded to the scene in the days and months after the attacks were cut short from exposure to toxins. At least 11 pregnancies were lost as a result of 9/11.