A quarter-century later, the duty to remember Sept. 11 remains

The passage of time will never blunt the emotions of Sept. 11, 2001 for those of us who experienced the events of that day as they unfolded. See timeline.

We have an obligation to the generations too young to remember and those not yet born to preserve the memory of that day. Our world convulsed. Everything changed in a way that’s hard to convey to people who grew up in the post-9/11 era. America’s sense of security was forever shattered. Nineteen terrorists on a suicide mission. Four hijacked commercial jetliners turned into weapons of terror. Thousands of lives lost. Thousands more forever changed.

We went about our business on that lovely September morning of brilliant blue skies and sunshine, blissfully unaware that life in America was about to be fundamentally altered forever.

We heard the news of a plane crashing into one of the towers of the World Trade Center the old-fashioned way: phone calls from relatives and friends, a radio broadcast. We turned on our television sets in time to watch live as the second jetliner crashed into the second tower. We tried to make sense of what we were seeing as we watched explosions and fires near the top of two of the tallest buildings in the world.

News of other commercial jetliner hijackings was reported, followed by the crash of one into the Pentagon and another, headed for the nation’s capital, in a field in western Pennsylvania after a passenger revolt.

Stunned, we tried to wrap our heads around what was happening. It was incomprehensible. And terrifying.

First responders rushed into the burning towers to rescue people trapped inside. Hundreds of firefighters and police officers would lose their lives in their heroic effort to save others when the towers, one by one, collapsed and disappeared before our eyes in a cloud of smoke and dust. As it settled and cleared, we could all see that the towers were gone, reduced to a burning pile of rubble, also on live television. News crews recorded video and images of terrified people, covered in ash and dust, running for their lives to escape the plume of smoke, ash and debris erupting from the site that would come to be known as Ground Zero.

The terrorist attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives, including 343 members of FDNY and 23 members of NYPD. More than 6,000 people were injured.

First responders throughout New York City and across the region, including Riverhead police, EMS and firefighters, raced to the scene to help with rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. Hundreds worked at Ground Zero for many months to recover human remains from the rubble. Their exposure to toxins at the site caused a multitude of illnesses and deaths, and today, 25 years later, continues to take a harsh toll on their bodies.

Communities across the city and the wider region lost many residents in the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11. Among them were three local residents: NYC firefighters Thomas Richard Kelly, 38, and Jonathan Ielpi, 29, of Reeves Park, who were among the 343 FDNY members who rushed into the burning buildings to try to rescue civilians trapped inside; and Derrick Washington, 33, a young father from Calverton, who worked for Verizon.

Local remembrance services today

There are three local Sept. 11 remembrance services today:

10 a.m. at the World Trade Center Memorial Park, Riley Avenue and Edwards Avenue, Calverton.

5:35 p.m. a candlelight walk on Park Road/Lt. Thomas R. Kelly Drive followed by a memorial service at 6 p.m. at Sept. 11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue and Park Road/Lt. Thomas R. Kelly Drive in Riverhead.

6:00 p.m. a remembrance service at Fireman’s Memorial Park, Flanders Road (N.Y. 24) in Flanders.

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Remembering

We believe we’ll always remember. We say we’ll never forget. But as Sept. 11, 2001 recedes into history, people pass away, memories fade, life goes on, and the day seems to become more like any other, especially for the one-third of the American population born after 1994.

The permanent changes the attacks brought have become a way of life in post-9/11 America — so much so that they mostly go unnoticed at this point. We paid for better security with the loss of some personal freedoms.

In Memoriam: Names of those who perished

As the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks approached, U.S. Navy Seals shot and killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a special operation in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.

After news broke of bin Laden’s death, local residents shared their memories of Sept. 11, 2001.

The parents of fallen firefighter Lt. Thomas R. Kelly reacted to news of bin Laden’s death: ‘Justice is done.’