The September 11th Memorial Greenwich hosted a remembrance ceremony in Cos Cob Park on Monday.
The event began at 8:46am, which was the moment in 2001 that hijackers directed a Boeing 767 aircraft into the northern face of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
The ceremony included remarks by Col Francis V. Kelly, Ret., who is the brother of Greenwich Board of Education chair, Joe Kelly.
The crowd was welcomed by Wells Noonan, who organized the event with Stephanie Dunn Ashley, CEO of the American Red Cross, Metro New York North Chapter. Ms Noonan lost her brother Robert in the attacks.
Other speakers included Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and US Senator Richard Blumenthal. State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150) read aloud the names of 32 people with ties to Greenwich who lost their lives on Sept 11, 2001.
Also in attendance were elected officials, US Congressman Jim Himes, State Senator Ryan Fazio, State Rep Rachel Khanna (D-149), State Rep Hector Arzeno (D-151), Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan.
“Never forget. I think about all those innocents due to that hateful act,” Lamont said. “I think of our incredible first responders who stood up, running into that burning building to save lives and lost theirs. And if there’s a silver lining, it’s moments like this to remember why we’re so proud of our country. You remember how we all came together as one. You remember how we all looked out for each other.And you remember we’re a country where we treat each other like family.”
The Governor said he was a bit reminded, though in a different way, during Covid, when residents were hit by an invisible enemy.
“I was so proud of our state coming together, looking how for each other as one and remembering how much we have in common,” he said. “Sometimes it’s tragedies like this go into the rearview mirror and we forget about all the things we have in common and go back to tribalism and things that divide us. That’s why, Wells, this ceremony is so important.”
“Out of that tragedy,out of that hateful act, all that brought us together. If we can keep that spirit of looking out for each another – family community and patriotism – that’s probably the best memory coming out of 9/11.”
“Today we remember and we vow, as Wells said, to never forget,” Blumethal said. “In remembering and vowing never to forget, I think the best way to honor those memories is to work for the living. And to make sure that we never forget the men and women who serve us today. Firefighters and first responders in Greenwich, in the state, and all around the country.”
Blumenthal said the ramifications of 9/11 continue to affect people throughout their lives.
“Our sons and daughters, my two sons who served in these wars in uniform, the veterans who have come back with invisible wounds of war, who need our help, let us commit to them as well,” he said. “And of course all of those first responders who continue to live with the wouns of their service at Ground Zero.”
Blumenthal mentioned the “Zadroga Act,” which was authorized and then reauthorized, but not without a fight. Thousands of first responders breathed and ingested toxins at Ground Zero on 9/11 and over the weeks that followed – toxins that led to chronic and lethal conditions. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act helped ensure proper monitoring and treatment for thousands of men, women and children that face potential life-threatening health effects.
Blumenthal said more than 70,000 people, and 1,000 in Connecticut, suffer from cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other conditions that resulted from their service at Ground Zero.
“They will bear those wounds and those scars for their whole lives, as well as their families. We honor the living who continue to serve in that way.”
BOE chair Joe Kelly introduced his brother Col. Francis Kelly, the featured speaker at the 9/11 ceremony in Cos Cob Park.
“It has been a generation since the most significant public day of my life. A day of bleak horror, frustration, anguish and confusion, but it was also the turning point in the life of a generation,” he recalled.
“Many of us personally affected by 9/11 have not, cannot, and sometimes will not allow the dark, malevolent anger to diminish,” he continued. “There still remains frustration and a stark memory of each second, standing among the human rain, watching 343 contemporaries and friends climb to glory, feeling the ground lurch 110 times, and tasting the ashes of incinerated friends in my mouth.”
He said the actual effect of the terrorist attacks, while stinging, had the opposite result of their goal.
“America continued to do the benevolent things it does as the guiding light of liberty, and rather than cower in fear a generation faced up to evil and grabbed it by the throat.”
He described Americans as a peaceful people, dedicated to freedom and justice for all, and who bear no ill will to any country, but seek only to help in times of great distress and ensure freedom from fear, want and terror from all.
“American and Americans are resilient and fearless,” he added.
