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Georgia Military College holds Patriot Day Ceremony in honor of 9/11

Cadets at the Milledgeville campus recognized over 10,000 lives lost in 9/11 and the war on terror

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — People across the country are honoring the lives lost during the 9/11 attacks. In Milledgeville, cadets at Georgia Military College remembered those lives with a Patriot Day ceremony.

During the ceremony, students at the preparatory school with a laying of the wreath and a 21-gun salute. They also listened to words from Daniel Metzdorf, the first above-the-knee amputee to remain on active duty.

"I don't want to be anywhere else but here," says Metzdorf. "Since it happened 18 years ago, some of these students weren't alive. They can take this day every year and honor those memories."

Metzdorf lost his leg in a bomb explosion near Baghdad, Iraq. After undergoing 27 surgeries, Metzdorf re-enlisted with his unit in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Metzdorf has spent the last few days at GMC speaking to students and noted how engaged cadets were in learning about what occurred on Sept. 11.

"They want to know the facts about the day. They know it's an important day to remember," says Metzdorf.

After the ceremony, GMC students wrote the names of over 10,000 people who lost their lives in the attack and the following war on terror on bricks in front of the school.

"It symbolizes the loss. It symbolizes the sacrifice, but it also symbolizes there is a tomorrow," says Metzdorf. "There is a time where we have to celebrate the ones that are with us."

Some GMC students who were directly affected by 9/11 were awarded scholarships from military veterans company, NewDay USA.

RELATED: Macon public safety officials honor 9/11 victims

RELATED: 18 years later, America vows to 'never forget' 9/11

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