REMEMBERING 9/11

Bay Area, nation mark somber anniversary with memorials, music

Twenty years after four hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in rural Pennsylvania, the Bay Area remembered with somber ceremony the 2,996 people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The commemorations began shortly after sunrise with the San Francisco Fire Department’s annual ringing of the fire bell outside the city’s Public Safety Building, attended by Mayor London Breed and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. The bells were rung and the American flag was lowered to half-staff as firefighters saluted. The department has held the event every year since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We keep this memorial alive to honor those who lost their lives, to honor their families and to honor all of those that were impacted,” San Francisco Fire Chief Jea

nine Nicholson told the assembled crowd. “We also do it so our younger firefighters know the legacy.”

The march of time, the power of memory and the value of service were on the minds of many who attended events around the Bay Area. Remembrances also took place across the country, including the 9/11 Memorial in New York, where President Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton absorbed a solemn moment of silence. Biden visited Shanksville, Pa., where a plane crashed after the passengers of Flight 93 sacrificed their lives to foil hijackers’ plans, and the Pentagon, whose western walls were breached by the crashing Flight 77.

At San Francisco’s majestic Palace of Fine Arts, 200 volunteers gathered at 8 a.m. to help pack meal kits for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank as part of the 9/11 National Day of Service. Almost 800 volunteers were expected in shifts throughout the day.

“We are very committed to this particular program because it shows the resilience of the human spirit,” said Michael Pappas, executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council. “It shows the best of transfiguring what was a very traumatic event into an event of giving to others.”

The event began with prayers from the Rev. Megan Rohrer, the first openly transgender Evangelical Lutheran bishop, and Jonathan Butler, the executive director of the African American FaithBased Coalition. Law enforcement officers held a moment of silence for the lives lost. Singer Jane Harrington, a New Yorker, sang “America the Beautiful” to end the opening ceremony.

For many volunteers, the service provided an outlet for a whorl of emotions that linger two decades later.

“I feel like our country is really hurting right now in so many ways. It’s so important to give back,” said Suzanne McCormac, a former New York City resident who remembered getting ready for work in downtown San Francisco on the morning of 9/11. For her, showing up to volunteer meant “being a part of something bigger.”

It meant something similar to Mark Bautista, who brought his 13-year-old son, Marcus, to help pack meals.

For others, it meant marking another year without someone.

At a barbecue honoring veterans and first responders in Foster City, Bob Katz remembered a close friend who died on Flight 93.

“He said, ‘When I come back, we’ll get together for lunch,’ ” recalled Katz, a San Bruno resident and Army veteran. “Well, he never made it back.”

In San Jose, a huge American flag spanned the ladders of two fire trucks at St. James and Market streets. Motorcycle officers led the procession through downtown, past families gathered beneath trees, some holding cameras over their shoulders to snap photos, as bagpipes played in the distance.

Mayor Sam Liccardo rode aboard one of two vintage fire trucks as marching firefighters paused in front of Fire Station No. 1 and gathered around a podium resembling the rear of a fire truck. Liccardo recalled that he was in a car on his way to work at the city attorney’s office when he learned of the attacks.

“We felt a bit lost as a na

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo

tion. Fortunately, that is not the end of this story,” he said, recounting the heroics of firefighters, police officers and other first responders who “ran toward a building that promised near certain death.”

Liccardo said the resolve and resilience of first responders united the nation at a time when its spirit was shaken. That dedication is still alive, he said, his voice wavering as he invoked the deadly mass shooting at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority yard in May. Nine VTA employees were killed by a disgruntled former employee, including those who risked their lives to prevent more deaths.

“This courage and this heroism is all around us,” he said. “It’s never too late to learn from history 20 years later.”

“This courage and this heroism is all around us. It’s never too late to learn from history 20 years later.”

Lauren Hernandez, Danielle Echeverria and Michael Cabanatuan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com, danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com, mcabanatuan@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bylaurenhernandez, @DanielleEchev, @ctuan

Craig Ruttle / Getty Images NEW YORK: Katie Mascali is comforted by her fiance, Andre Jabban, as they stand near the name of her father, Joseph Mascali.

Drew Angerer / Getty Images VIRGINIA: A man visits Arlington National Cemetery’s section for those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Don Feria / Special to The Chronicle SAN JOSE: Firefighter E.S. Dziuba salutes during the national anthem before the Patriot Day Procession.

Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press PENNSYLVANIA: Visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial take part in a sunset memorial service.

LiPo Ching / Special to The Chronicle Bishop Megan Rohrer holds a moment of silence in remembrance of 9/11 at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts.

LiPo Ching / Special to The Chronicle Army veteran Bob Katz, at a barbecue honoring veterans in Foster City, remembered a friend who died on Flight 93.

LiPo Ching / Special to The Chronicle Stanford Martin, 95, a Navy veteran who served in World War II and the Korean War, also attended the event.