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Joplin service begins day of remembrance

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(UPI/Tom Uhlenbrock)
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Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon talk with police outside Saint John's Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Mo. on May 23, 2011. The governor is speaking at a remembrance ceremony this morning at another hospital in town, Freeman Hospital.

Will be updated.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has opened a day of remembrance in Joplin by honoring tornado survivors, medical workers and volunteers who've aided the city's recovery.

Nixon told the crowd during a sunrise service at Freeman Hospital that it was fitting to reflect on faith as dawn broke over a city where a twister killed 161 people and destroyed thousands of buildings one year ago.

A four-mile unity walk through the hardest-hit neighborhoods will end with a moment of silence at a city park at 5:41 p.m., the precise time when the tornado packing 200 mile-per-hour winds hit Joplin.

Some volunteers who came to Joplin following the tornado have returned for the anniversary. They include a group of former residents who organized a fundraising bike ride from New York City.

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