Montgomery Remembers 9/11

Dozens of people lined the Mill Street Bridge on Sunday morning to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and remember those who lost their lives that day.

The ceremony was brief, but powerful. After an introduction by Village President Marilyn Michelini, Norb Weber, a retired Aurora firefighter who now sits on the board of trustees for the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Department, offered a prayer.

“Help us to remember what it means to be Americans, a people endowed with blessings,” Weber said. “Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand, united as one nation in the midst of any adversity.”

Fire Chief Tom Meyers and Police Chief Daniel Meyers each offered their own tributes to those who died in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In honor of the 343 New York firefighters who perished saving others, a Montgomery firefighter rang an alarm bell 20 times, four counts of five – the traditional signal of the end of a job well done.

Trustee Stan Bond, who organized Sunday’s ceremony, handed flowers to Michelini, Meyers and Meyers. They then released those flowers into the river, in tribute to those who died, and those who live on.

“As this river flows eternal through our village of Montgomery, so, too, flow our thoughts and prayers through this river, and through time to all whose lives were changed by this horrific event,” Bond said.

At 9:11 a.m., a moment of slience was observed.

The bridge was closed for the roughly 15-minute ceremony, and the American flags that line its northern edge remained for the rest of the day. Flags flown at village buildings remained at half-staff.