Buried under rubble of World Trade Center, survivor remembers 9/11 at Clovis memorial

William Jimeno was working as a police officer with the Port Authority in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 and was at the World Trade Center when the South Tower collapsed.

He was trapped under the rubble for 13 hours and along with Sgt. John McLoughlin was one of the few survivors found at Ground Zero. The story became the basis for Oliver Stone’s 2006 movie “World Trade Center.”

Jimeno was honored Monday morning at the The California 9-11 Memorial in Clovis, in a ceremony remembering the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

He was presented with an American flag during the memorial and slated to share his story as the keynote at at event Monday night at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

“As a survivor,” Jimeno said during the morning’s ceremony, “it gives me hopes to be here with you today.”

“On that day, the worst day in U.S. history, I saw the best in humanity. I saw the best in Americans.”

Former Pelco CEO David McDonald founded the Clovis event soon after the 2001 attacks, flying first responders from New York City for a respite in California and eventually inviting many of them back to commemorate the memorial.

It is considered one of the largest 9/11 commemorations outside of New York and was just one of several that took place in the central San Joaquin Valley on Monday.

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department held a ceremony at the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters in Visalia. There was a moment of silence, the presentation of colors and the ringing of a bell, in tribute to the 343 New York City firefighters who died.

Fresno City College hosted a similar ceremony on its campus at the Veterans Peace Memorial. It included a wreath laying, the ringing of a bell and a keynote address from Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Gallegos, fire chief with the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard.

Several Clovis Unified schools commemorated the day with campus events.

Clovis West High School offered coffee and donuts to all first responders with a thank you “drive-thru.” Students also placed flags around campus to count the number of people who died during the attacks.

Buchanan High School’s ceremony honored eight soldiers, each former students, who died while serving in conflicts after the events of Sept. 11.

Clovis Elementary partnered with the Clovis Veterans Memorial District to replace the American flags in each classroom with a new flag during a ceremony Monday morning.