‘HEARTS WERE BROKEN’
Local ceremony recalls Sept. 11 attacks and how American spirit persevered
On Sept. 11, 2001, “our hearts were broken, but our spirit was not,” Ulster County Executive Michael Hein told onlookers Monday at the annual 9-11 memorial ceremony at Firemen’s Park in Uptown Kingston.
The service began with a benediction by the Rev. David Brechter of the Reformed Church of St. Remy. Members of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians then played “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes.
Hein and Kingston Mayor Steve Noble addressed about 100 people who gathered early Monday at the park, which contains a Sept. 11 memorial sculpture, to commemorate the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
“It’s hard to fathom that
much time has passed,” Hein said. “In many ways, it feels like yesterday. And we all remember the beautiful weather, the beautiful blue skies in which we saw planes crash into buildings and do things that we never thought ... possible.”
The county executive reminded those who gathered about the importance of never losing sight “of how wrong and how horrible” the attack was and of “how frightened and angry we all were.”
The mayor recognized and thanked members of the Kingston fire and police departments for their service.
“Today is a day we can remember those that were
lost, but also remember those that serve,” Noble said. “They’re the ones willing to run into a burning building. ... They’re the ones putting their lives on the line each and every day.”
Kingston firefighters Stephen Quick and William Farrell placed a wreath in honor of retired city firefighters John J. Berardi Jr. and Peter Holmes Sr., who died in the past year.