Members of the Warrensburg Volunteer Fire Company, neighboring fire companies, veteran groups and town residents gathered yesterday evening at the Floyd Bennett Memorial Bandstand for the 9/11 memorial ceremony. The service is an annual tradition started by Warrensburg firefighters on the first anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The memorial included prayer, speeches, bell ringing ceremony, wreath laying and candlelight vigil.
A common theme wove through the speakers’ comments. Americans of the Millennial Generation and older knew precisely where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the nation was under attack. The new generation rising, today’s elementary and high school students, do not know of the tragic events through first-hand experience. It is important for these younger Americans that the memory of what happened Sept. 11, 2001 is not allowed to fade.
“Every generation has defining moments,” says Warrensburg Fire Chief Justin Hull, himself a Millennial, “whether it was WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam War or the Gulf War. For my generation, it was 9/11, 2001, the start of the War on Terror…There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about 9/11 in one way or another, and I am probably not alone. If there is one thing I can ask of each and every one of you here tonight going forward is to never forget 9/11. Tell your kids, the ones that didn’t remember when this took place, about this day and the tragic events that took place.”
New York State Assembly Member Dan Stec spoke of the lessons learned on that tragic day. “Life is precious; life is fleeting and fragile. We found that out in a terrible way 15 years ago. And also, we were reminded there is evil in the world. It’s among us, but we also saw the aftermath, the great goodness that’s in the world. The goodness of neighbors looking after neighbors; the first responders giving of themselves to look out for complete strangers, and it gives me hope for the kind of community that we have, the kind of country that we have, for the future.”
The service included an opening prayer by Father Thomas Pettigrew of the Church of the Holy Cross and a video tribute with a slideshow of photos from 2001 displayed on a large screen. The Warrensburg Junior/Senior High School band played patriotic music with high school voice instructor James Corriveau performing the National Anthem and “God Bless America.”
The bell ringing ceremony was a particularly poignant part of the service. To respect and honor firefighters whose lives were lost in the line of duty and members of the armed forces killed in action, a series of tones were struck on a silver bell. This tradition announces the end of an emergency and the return home, for a final time, of the brave responders.
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Thank you, Gillian Burdett, for a beautifully written and touching account of Warrensburg’s 9/11 events.