On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Flanner Buchanan Funeral Centers (Indianapolis) unveiled and dedicated a memorial tribute at its Oaklawn Memorial Gardens location. Suspended in the lobby of the multipurpose center, the permanent memorial features 2,977 medallions with the names of those who lost their lives in the three attacks. The nine victims from Indiana have a blue state medallion added to their names. Flanner Buchanan President Tony Lloyd conceived of the memorial after seeing a Vietnam War memorial that featured dog tags.

Prior to the unveiling, a service was held that included remarks by Bruce W. Buchanan, owner of Flanner Buchanan, and featured speaker Josh Bleill, who, inspired to join the U.S. Marines after 9/11, fell victim to a bomb explosion in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006 and woke up five days later to learn that he had lost two friends and both of his legs. Bleill spent two years in extensive rehabilitation.

“It worked out,” he said. “I got a job with the Indianapolis Colts. I travel and do public speaking. The American dream is very possible. Even after something like this – so devastating that I thought things were over – it still worked out. In America, if you keep working and things do go wrong, if you have that drive, it’s well alive. It’s always a possibility.”

Said Buchanan during the service: “In the funeral business, we memorialize a life one at a time. In preparing for the dedication, I was overwhelmed by the number of individuals lost – I say ‘individuals’ because we should never think of the victims as a group. Our memorial sculpture captures that as each victim is identified on his or her own medallion.” flannerbuchanan.com