City of Hammond joins forces with the community for 25th Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony

On Friday, September 11, the City of Hammond welcomed the community to the Hammond Sportsplex for its 25th Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony.

Pastor Sam Hamstra of Anthem Church provided the invocation for the event. Scott Miller, chief of staff for the City of Hammond, recalls the emotions of 9/11 and his personal experience of learning about it.

“There are certain moments in history when time seems to stand still. For my parents’ generation, it was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. For many of us today, that moment is September 11, 2001,” Miller said. “I remember exactly what I was doing — teaching class at the Area Career Center in Hammond when one of my students came up and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. It initially seemed like a terrible accident, and then when we learned the second plane hit, we knew this was something entirely different.”

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott, Jr. recognized the Hammond City Council in his opening remarks. One of the most vivid memories he has from 9/11 is the way that the country came together the following day as one.

“We should also remember what happened in the days that followed. For a time, Americans put aside their political differences. We weren’t Democrats or Republicans anymore. We weren’t divided by race, religion, region, or background. We were simply Americans,” McDermott said.

Hammond Fire Chief Bernie Grisolia believes it is important to recognize the first responders who ran towards the towers with no hesitation as many were running aware in the terror of the moment.

“Speaking as a first responder, it’s an event that feels like it happened yesterday. Whether you are a firefighter, police officer, emergency medical technician, or dispatcher, you know the risks we face these days,” Grisolia said. “It is difficult to imagine the scale of the loss – the idea that each victim had a name, a face, a family, a story, a life.”

Chris Godee, assistant chief of police for the Hammond Police Department, put into perspective some of these stories that were lost in this tragedy.

“Almost 3,000 lives were lost, thousands were injured, and we lost the lives of 343 firefighters and 71 police officers. There was also a two-year-old girl going to Disneyland with her parents, a couple in their 80s going to their son’s wedding, and eight children going on a school field trip. Since 9/11, over 469 New York City police officers alone since then have died of a 9/11-connected cancer or other related illness. Events like this, even though they bring sadness, are important to educate those and honor the sacrifices that were made that day,” Godee said.

The 9/11 attacks remain one of the biggest tragedies in U.S. history. On September 12, 2001, thousands of civilian volunteers and off-duty personnel rushed to Lower Manhattan and staging areas to provide rescue workers with food, water, medical supplies, and gear. First responders continued working, crowds of citizens lined the streets, and the American flags were waved in silence or applause to support the passing emergency vehicles heading to Ground Zero.

What will always be a day that Americans will never forget, remembrance ceremonies help bring the community together to honor the lives lost and the sacrifices made. The immediate days after the attacks showed the biggest signs of the country working as one in recent history.

“May we never forget the 2,977 innocent lives taken from us that day. May we never forget the heroes who ran towards the danger that day, and may we never stop striving to become once again the united country we were in the days after September 11, 2001,” McDermott said.

For more information on the City of Hammond, you can visit gohammond.com.