OCEAN CITY, Md. -- 22 years ago, the United States was rocked by a terrorist attack unlike anything we have ever seen. It is why today, hundreds gathered for a ceremony at the Firefighters Memorial, honoring those who sacrificed their lives.
'Continuing to remember' was a phrase uttered over and over at the ceremony. The idea is to help the next generation grasp what happened on that fateful day in 2001.
Everything kicked off with motorcycles rumbling down the boardwalk. It was followed with bagpipes and drums filling the air, the Pledge of Allegiance and lastly, the National Anthem.
Then, first responders began to speak. One of them was Ocean City's Fire Chief, Richard Bowers. Back in 2001, Bowers was working in Montgomery County when he was called to action at the Pentagon.
"Everybody's coming out, and us just going in," said Bowers.
Bowers was the task force leader and was assigned to help control the fire on the roof.
"We had about 80 firefighters up there, trying to do what we called box it in to make sure the fire didn't spread any further, because, we still had people in the building miraculously working and diligently and very courageously continuing to do their jobs to protect the nation," said Bowers.
Twenty two years later, and the emotion in Bowers' voice was still evident.
"The reason it's tough for me, is, I lost a lot of good friends in FDNY that I had the opportunity to work with," said Bowers.
It was that sacrifice that makes educating future generations so important.
"It's incumbent upon myself it's incumbent upon every individual that has promised to never forget that day to educate those individuals," said James Jester, Chief of the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company. "Then once we pass it on to them they have to understand we're giving them the torch, we're giving them the responsibility to pass that on to future generations."
While the sacrifice of the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11 should and will always be remembered, Jester said their is a group of men and women who are still suffering to this day.
“There are many individuals that worked on the piles for many, many months that have died, they have debilitating diseases and the number is only going to increase," said Jester.
The future generations being educated have already taken notice. Marcus Frabel, a firefighter up in Pennsylvania, was in 2nd grade when tragedy struck.
“9/11 definitely played a part in actually becoming a fireman myself," said Frabel.
22 years later and 9/11 is still a moment for us all to remember, honor and educate.
