BATAVIA, Ohio — Clermont County commissioners proclaimed Sept. 11, 2026, as National Patriot Day in the county during their regular session Wednesday, marking 25 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The proclamation honors the thousands of lives lost in the attacks, the families of victims and the first responders and private citizens who showed extraordinary heroism that day, the county said. It also recognizes military service members who continue to serve and defend the country.
Accepting the proclamation were Major B.J. Boerger of the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, Fire-EMS Chief Roy Short of the Central Joint Fire-EMS District, and several fire chiefs from throughout the county, according to the commissioners.
Congress designated Sept. 11 as Patriot Day through a joint resolution signed into law in December 2001, commemorating the thousands of people killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The observance calls for a national moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time, the moment the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
Clermont County is asking residents to mark the day with remembrance services, by flying the American flag at half-staff and by observing a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. Friday.
Boerger, who accepted the proclamation on behalf of the sheriff’s office, joined the department in 2000 as a corrections officer and has since served as a road deputy, detective and sergeant before being promoted to major, where he now oversees criminal operations at the sheriff’s headquarters in Batavia, according to the sheriff’s office. Short has led the Central Joint Fire-EMS District, which serves Batavia and Amelia, since being promoted to chief in 2025 after more than three decades in the fire service, according to the district.
The proclamation was one of several items commissioners took up during their Wednesday session. The board is led by President Bonnie Batchler, Vice President David Painter and member Claire Corcoran.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Clermont County.