Somber Annual Remembrance in Cos Cob Park Marks 23 Years Since 9/11 Attacks

Wednesday’s 9/11 memorial service at Cos Cob Park was a solemn event that for many brought back memories of the sunny skies on the morning of Sept 11, 2001.

The event featured the Sound Beach Community Band, the honor guard led by Jim Bonney playing bagpipes, and the Melody Men who sang God Bless America.

Sarah Freeman and Jen Danzi read the names of the 32 people with ties to Greenwich who perished, ringing a bell in honor of each of them.

The National Anthem was sung by Mo Jami from the band MoJo.

Rabbi Yossi Deren from Chabad of Greenwich shared a prayer.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by John Cahill, a friend of Rob Noonan who lost his life on Sept 11, 2001.

A cannon was fired at 8:46am when the hijacked Flight 11 was crashed into the North Tower on that day in 2001, and again at 9:03am when hijacked Flight 175 struck the South Tower.

The cannon was fired again to mark the Pentagon being struck, and again marking when the South Tower fell. It was fired again to mark the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA and finally to mark the North Tower falling.

In his welcome remarks First Selectman Fred Camillo referred to the event as the anniversary of one of the darkest days in US history.

“It’s easy to think that when you look in the rear view mirror this will fade eventually and people will forget, but when you think about the people there that day – the first responders and loved ones of all who perished – they will never be forgotten,” he said. “As long as we all come to events like today and in years to come, we’ll guarantee that these will continue long after we’re gone. We hope they will feel the same thing we feel here today.”

Former First Selectman Peter Tesei referred to Sept 11, 2001 as, “ours and future generations Day of Infamy.”

“Thousands of souls were lost that day, including the 23 people with ties to our beloved town of Greenwich, which the horrific aftermath of those attacks we witnessed from a distance,” he said.

Tesei introduced Wells Noonan, organizer of the event, who lost her brother Robert on Sept 11, 2001.

“Because of the efforts of so many residents who are forever impacted by these terrorist attacks, including Wells Noonan who has carried the mantle of organizing this beautiful and respectful memorial, we continue this annual somber remembrance,” Tesei said.

Ms Noonan shared memories of her older brother “Robbie,” who perished in his office at Cantor Fitzgerald in the north tower, the first hit and last to fall.

“We grew up in Greenwich spending our childhood riding our bikes, playing competitive sports, and enjoying the safety and freedom of our neighborhood,” she recalled. “Back then our greatest fear was as simple as the desk drill.”

“The desperate panic we felt trying to find him in the aftermath was indescribable,” she continued. “Those days were bearable because of the community that surrounded us. In my heart, I believe my brother, who was a Marine, died for his country on home soil.”

Noonan said she had been invited to the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba in 2023 as a victim family member, which allowed her to witness the Dept of Defense commission pre-trial for the detainees accused of conspiring in the Sept 11, 2001 hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

She described the legal process as offering the possibility of justice and closure.

 

In loving memory of:

• Bryan Bennett
• Stephen Cherry
• Kevin Cleary
• Kevin P. Connors
• Brian Cummins
• Christine Egan
• Michael Egan
• Ulf Ramm Ericson
• Bennett Lawson Fisher
• Thomas Galvin
• Steven Glick
• Donald Greene
• Pedro Grehan
• James Halvorson
• Erik Isbrandtsen
• Peter Kellerman
• Joseph A. Lenihan
• Adam J. Lewis
• Edward Francis “Teddy” Maloney
• Francis Noel McGuinn
• Christopher Mello
• Cheryl Ann Monyak
• Lindsay Morehouse
• Robert Noonan
• Michel Pelletier
• Michael Rothberg
• Jason Sabbag
• Stacey Sanders
• Frederick Varacchi
• Gregory Wachtler
• Martin Wohlforth
• Charles Zion