9/11 ceremonies important to honor memory of those lost, Cape first responders

Five solemn and sonorous rings of a bell repeated four times.

It is a sound that will be heard at fire stations all over the country and all over Cape Cod Sunday in ceremonies commemorating the 21st anniversary of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

In shorthand, it has become known as 9/11, which ironically and also fittingly are the same numbers used to report an emergency.

The ringing of the bells is an essential part of the ceremony, a fire service tradition that signifies deaths which occurred in the line of duty, Hyannis Deputy Fire Mark Storie said.

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“It originated with the fire department in New York City a century ago, perhaps,” added Richard Pauley, fire chief at Wellfleet Fire and Rescue.

Cape first responders remember 9/11 each year

The 9/11 ceremonies may differ from town to town.

Some will be more elaborate as in Brewster where musical arrangements will be provided by bugler Jeff Mills, the Highland Light Bagpipe Band and Sherley Ann-Belleus.

In some towns there will be a police color guard in full dress blues and firefighters wearing their Class A uniforms.

The ceremony in Chatham this year will feature speeches from the town manager and Select Board chair.

Other memorial ceremonies will be simple affairs as in Wellfleet where the whole thing will last only for 15 or 20 minutes.

“It is a brief ceremony to commemorate and memorialize people we lost,” Pauley said. “We keep it simple.”

A few words, music, moments of silence

In Truro, it is equally simple with a moment of silence, the reading of “The Firefighter’s Prayer” and a prayer by a local pastor.

In Provincetown, the ceremony will be held an hour earlier than usual because, otherwise it would conflict with church services.

Then it is back to business for the firefighters who will do a drill, Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato  said.

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One thing common to all ceremonies whether large or small is the commitment to keeping the memory of the events of 9/11 alive.

“We lost 343 brothers and sisters in one event (9-11). Nothing compares to that,” Chatham Fire Chief David Pasquale  said. “One hundred firefighters every year are lost in the line of duty, and 343 were lost in just one event. I mean, they (New York City) lost somebody in every household, and to come back from that is something else.”

Kevin Lennon,  deputy chief at the Yarmouth Police Department, said the memorials, which have been held every year since 2001, are important because they show respect for the heroism of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

This generation's Pearl Harbor

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They honor, not just those who died in the terrorist attacks on that day, but also all the first responders, the firefighters and police who died due to diseases they contracted from all the debris and toxins from the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, he said.

Lennon said the annual memorials are also for the families of those who perished that day.

“I think it is important for the survivors,” Truro Fire Chief Timothy Collins said. “I still get a little misty when they read, ‘The Firefighter’s Prayer.’”

Pasquale, along with Storie and others, compared the events of 9/11 to that of the generation who lived through World War II.

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“For an earlier generation it was, ‘Remember Pearl Harbor,’ For me, it’s “remember 9/11,’” Pasquale said.

“It is important to understand and remember what happened because it changed the history of this country,” Lennon said.

He also said 9/11 led the United States into a war that lasted 20 years and resulted in the deaths of many servicemen in a kind of domino effect that added to the tragedy.

Last year, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 brought several hundred people to Chatham’s memorial ceremony. Pasquale said it made him think about how the 18-year-old high school students who were there were not even born in 2001.

Passing on the tragic story to our children

So he said he is glad to see when people stop by the Chatham Fire Department’s memorial garden which, like other memorial gardens on the Cape and all around the country, includes a piece of steel from the wreckage of the twin towers and plaques to commemorate the event.

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“A lot of people stop by with their kids and tell them about it and what it means,” Pasquale said. “It’s a great way to keep the memory going.”

These memorials are important to remind people of their civic and moral duty as American citizens, Lennon said.

“We live in a wonderful country. It has its ups and downs, and people have a short memory," Pauley said. "We want to be aware of the significance of what happened and not forget. And it is part of the healing process. We can reflect on this and hope for the future.”

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: 9/11 ceremonies key to honor those lost, Cape first responders