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 Debbie Abraham, a member of the VAST team, works to assemble care kits on Friday at the Peninsula Medical Center. The United Way of Marquette County held the 9/11 Day of Service to commemorate the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, on the event’s 20th anniversary. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric

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The engraving on a bench in memory of Lt. Col. Kip Taylor, who was killed at age 38 in the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon in 2001, is part of a permanent display at the Pentagon. Northern Michigan University alumnus Taylor was working at the Pentagon when the building was hit by a terrorist plane 20 years ago. U.P. Honor Flight Mission XI visited the memorial at the Pentagon during its visit to Washington, D.C., in September 2016, when this photo was taken. (Journal file photo by Renee Prusi)

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Kip Taylor, who was an ROTC member at Northern Michigan University, died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

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To honor those who lost their lives or were injured when planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, or were on the United 93 plane that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the United Way of Marquette County held the 9/11 Day of Service on Friday at the Peninsula Medical Center.

The event was held in conjunction with the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, which gives communities the chance to help others, and honor the victims of 9/11 as well as current first responders and others.

Andrew Rickauer, executive director of the United Way of Marquette County, was on hand at the event as local volunteers put together care kits to be distributed throughout the community. Those kits were filled with hand sanitizer, paper towels, shampoo and other items to be used for basic needs.

The kits were to be distributed to many local agencies that work with seniors and veterans, he said.

The word had gone out to area businesses and organizations to see if they wanted to be part of the 9/11 Day of Service.

“Everyone really stepped up to help us out,” Rickauer said. “The response was overwhelming.”

Christie White, sales leader at VAST, an insurance and risk management company based in Marquette, helped assemble care kits, as did other VAST team members.

White said VAST has a volunteer program in which individuals may perform four hours of volunteer service per month.

She called such volunteer efforts a “great way” to help the community.

Yoopers United, the volunteer center of United Way, allows people to get involved with volunteer opportunities with local nonprofits and schools. Visit www.uwmqt.org/volunteer/ for details.

Remembering an

NMU alumnus

Lt. Col. Kip Taylor, a 1985 alumnus of Northern Michigan University, was killed on 9/11 when a plane flew into the Pentagon where, according to arlingtoncemetery.net, he was working as a military assistant in the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. A major at the time of his death, Taylor, who was 38 at the time, was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel.

A story published on Wednesday by NMU said a plaque memorializing Taylor was dedicated and positioned on Veteran’s Rock on NMU’s campus in 2009. He entered NMU on basketball and Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarships, and was commissioned into the Adjutant General Corps by his father, who ran the military science program.

“Just over an hour before the terrorist attacks, Taylor had emailed friends about how fatherhood had changed his life,” the story reads. “He and his wife, Nancy, viewed their 20-month-old son Dean and the other baby on the way as miracles.”

Both were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

“After kids, there are days that just get going when you say, ‘Hi honey, I’m home,” Taylor was quoted as saying in the article. “My conclusion is that what we do until that moment pales in comparison to what we do after that point in the day.”

According to NMU, Taylor was killed six weeks before the birth of his second son, Luke. In 2003, tragedy struck again when his wife died of breast cancer. The two boys were adopted by Kip Taylor’s brother and sister-in-law.

Luke is featured in a new Washington Post feature on children born after their fathers died in the attacks, the NMU story said, with Luke serving in ROTC at Texas Christian University.

Kip Taylor’s service awards include the Legion of Merit and Purple Heart, both awarded posthumously.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.