Tampa Bay Honors 9/11 Victims for 20th Anniversary
Tampa FLA- The Tampa Bay Area honors the twentieth Anniversary of the September 11th Attacks that killed nearly 3000 people back in 2001 with a variety of different memorials and ceremonies around the region to mourn and reflect the worst attack on the U.S Soil.
Tampa Bay had many activities going on throughout the areas with open access for the public. Survivors and first responders arrived in the city to begin the different vigils and read the names of every victim who perished that faithful day. The line of ceremonies around the bay area starts at 7 a.m. and ends at the end of the day.
Tampa first kicked off the first ceremony at Tampa Fire Department Headquarters. Gen. Richard D. Clarke, 12th commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base is the keynote speaker at a 20th-anniversary ceremony of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Saturday, Sept. 11. Fire Rescue Honor Guard has opened the ceremony with guest audience Mayor Jane Castor and Fire Chief Barbara Tripp attending the gathering. Clarke was deployed during Desert Storm, Operation Joint Guardian, while on deployment four other times in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I am deeply humbled to deliver the remarks in remembrance of the tragedy on a single morning almost 20 years ago today and to honor the brave generation that answered the call to serve the last two decades,” Gen. Clarke said.
The ceremony will feature the timeline breakdown of events that led up to the collapse of the towers. The current first responders will represent the 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers that were killed in the attacks. The responders made it to the stage and for Box 444 and ended the ceremony with dispatch transmission on Tampa Fire Rescue.
The remembrance will take place at 9 a.m. at Tampa Fire Department Headquarters, 808 E. Zack St.
The next location where people are gathered for the memorials is across the bay in Pinellas County. Curlew Hills Memory Gardens in Palm Harbor hosted an event at 10:00 a.m. The keynote Speaker is FD NY and 911 first Responder Garrett Lindgren. The musical guest was Lee Greenwood, who sang “God Bless the USA” and “star spangled banner”. The program also included Honor Guards, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter fly-over, and Sarge the Eagle, from George C. McGough Nature Park.
The 9/11 Memorial is a twisted piece of steel “floating” in the center, 30 tons of American granite as the towers, and a bright eternal flame at its base. The materials around the memorial itself are large granite monuments with the engraved names of the firefighters who lost their lives at 9/11 — including the K-9 dog that passed that day. Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke during the ceremony about the first responders and military saving lives and bringing those responsible to justice.
The next honorable activities happened in Upper Tampa BAY Region at The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel and Tampa Premium Outlets hosted a one-mile memorial run that started at 7:30 a.m. at the outlets, Followed a ceremony at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. People who run virtually can participate no matter where they are located but were only able to pick up their goody bags at the Tampa Premium outlets. The money made from the event goes to Pasco County students looking to become first responders.
South of the Bay Area, the Cypress Springs Gracious Retirement Living in Bradenton gave free breakfast for first responders and Polk County hosted the 12th Annual “Honoring Our Heroes” event to honor all military, law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Officials say that the Winter Haven Police Department sponsored the event with help from the Winter Haven Fire Department.
Sarasota County hosted a 20th-anniversary commemoration that took place Saturday, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at Sarasota National Cemetery, 9810 State Road 72 in Sarasota. The names of each person who died during the 9/11 attacks were read during the ceremony. Those who attended the ceremony had the option of standing for specific individuals who died during the Sarasota Fire Department’s Tolling of the Bell and when the bagpipers play “Amazing Grace.”
Congressman Greg Steube, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of the Venice Diocese, Bishop Dabney Tylor Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, NAACP President Trevor Harvey, Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman, and local police and fire chiefs, mayors, and commissioners participated in the event.
A 70-plus community chorus performed during the commemoration. The commemoration continues the tradition that began Sept. 11, 2001, when the Sarasota Ministerial Association first held a prayer vigil at J.D. Hamel Park.
Special commemorative coins have been minted to mark the occasion and were presented to Sarasota’s first responders, veterans, active-duty military, Sarasota Elks Lodge members, and 9/11 survivors in attendance.
The first 500 attendees arriving at the commemoration were given red and white and blue flowers that were placed in a mesh that eventually became the American flag located in front of the stage.
Tampa Bay mourns the loss of the souls who perished that day but honors those who sacrificed their lives to run into the situation and saved as many lives as they could before the day of terror ended. Thousands of people turned out for the events and the entire area half staffed their flags. 9/11 is a day that will never be forgotten.
