- Gainesville held a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at City Hall Plaza marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
- Mayor Harvey Ward emphasized the need for leaders to create a future vision for younger generations who don't remember 9/11.
- Police Chief Nelson Moya stressed that safety remains a top priority to prevent similar attacks and ensure public security.
Gainesville leaders and community members gathered to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks from 25 years ago at a City Hall Plaza ceremony.
Besides remembering the victims and heroes and the changes that the event brought, Mayor Harvey Ward said the nation’s leaders also need a vision for the future and a path forward for a generation of American workers who were too young or not yet born to recall the attacks.
“It’s about what you, whether you are 80 or 8, will take forward into the future. What will you do with the freedom that we didn’t earn, that we were born into?” Ward asked.
He added that just normal day-to-day activities can sometimes be extraordinary actions, especially when done to the fullest.
The ceremony featured retired Major Charlie Jackson, Commissioner Ed Book, Police Chief Nelson Moya, Fire Chief Shawn Hillhouse, Dr. Saeed Khan and the third-grade Performing Eagles from the Caring and Sharing Learning School.
The group held three moments of silence as the bell from Trinity Episcopal Church rang to mark the moments when the first airliner hit the North Tower, the second airliner struck the South Tower and the third plane dove into the Pentagon.
Moya said leaders should take time to check that they’re keeping safety a top issue. He said the nation has become good at remembering but must also focus on preventing it from happening again.
“We can’t operate in any government—local, state or federal—without ensuring that our people feel safe,” Moya said.
Ward issued a proclamation designating Friday as Patriots Day in Gainesville and presented it to third-grade students from Caring and Sharing Learning School. The school’s choir performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round.”
