Clinton residents will gather early on the morning of Sept. 11 to walk in remembrance of the lives lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The 9/11 Hero Walk, organized by Jay and Janice Long of CrossFit864, begins at 7 a.m. at the M.S. Bailey Municipal Center, 211 N. Broad St. Participants are asked to bring a flag and join the group as it walks through downtown Clinton.

The event is free and open to the public. Walkers of all ages are welcome, and no registration is required.

“We do this so nobody forgets,” Jay Long said. “There are kids in this town who weren’t born yet in 2001. When they see their neighbors out here carrying flags at seven in the morning, they start to understand what that day cost.”

The walk falls on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and aboard United Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Among the dead were 343 New York City firefighters, 37 Port Authority officers and 23 New York City police officers who went into the towers as others were coming out.

“It isn’t a race and it isn’t a workout,” Janice Long said. “It’s a walk. Anybody can do it, and everybody is welcome.”

Organizers point to a passage from Psalm 46 in describing the purpose of the morning: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.”

Two words continue to anchor the observance in Clinton and across the country: Never forget.