On Wednesday afternoon, 50 residents of Harbor Health in Ironton gathered in the activity room to hear a talk by Hoyt Allen and to remember the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

He began the slideshow by having everybody recall where they were on the tragic day when four airplanes were hijacked by 19 al-Queda terrorists and the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks killed 2,996 people.

The residents murmured to each other where they were, at home, at work.

“It was bad business that day,” one resident said.

“It was bad for America,” Allen responded.

Allen’s presentation touched on all the events of the day from the hijackers to the people on United Airlines Flight 93, who crashed the jet into the Pennsylvania field to prevent further destruction and deaths.

He went into the details of those who masterminded the attacks.

“There will always be evil,” Allen said. “And it must be wiped out.”

Allen lead the residents in singing “America the Beautiful.”

The talk ended with a prayer about America and being “mindful that we never forget 9/11.”

Allen, who used to be the associate executive director of the KYOWVA Evangelistic Association, said he started doing a 9/11-themed talk in 2015.

“I have several patriotic services I do,” he said, including ones on Memorial Day, D-Day, Fourth of July, Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor remembrance, as well as appreciation speeches about police, EMTs and medical personnel.

“I do these all the time at churches and nursing homes,” Allen said. “Wherever people say yes, I’ll come and do a talk.”

Melissa Garris, the activities coordinator at Harbor Health, said they had the presentation since it was the 19th anniversary of the 9/11.

“I thinks everybody should remember that day,” she said. “It was a tragic day for everybody. And I think our residents should remember. I think it was a really nice program.”