The Worthington community again will pause to remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001, with a ceremony on the Village Green.

The Patriots Day event will begin at noon Tuesday, Sept. 11, on the northwest quadrant of the Green.

Local veteran Joe Hart coordinates the ceremony each year and said he hopes Worthington continues to mark the date annually.

"This country has a penchant for sweeping things aside," he said. "We don't want them to forget the lessons of 9/11."

As in past years, distinguished veterans will address the crowd, and the popular songwriter/entertainer, Eric Gnezda, will share some of his songs.

Members of the armed forces have been invited, as have local police officers and firefighters.

The main speaker will be Lt. Gen. Dennis M. McCarthy, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs.

He serves as the principal assistant to the defense secretary for all Reserves matters and works closely with military generals on national security issues.

More than 230,000 reservists have been called to active duty since 9/11.

McCarthy is a Cleveland native and graduated from Capital University Law School in 1975, after serving in Vietnam in 1967 and joining the 25th Marine Regiment in Massachusetts in 1969.

He joined the Reserves in 1978 and held several command posts as a Reserves officer.

Also scheduled to speak is Louis Iasiello, a retired Navy officer who is a professor of humanities at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington. He was the 23rd chief of chaplains for the U.S. Navy from 2003 to 2006.