At 8:30 a.m. Friday, the doors of the Coral Gables Police and Fire Safety Headquarters opened for a ceremony honoring the thousands of lives lost in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Under cloudy skies, speakers including Fire Rescue Chief Marcos De La Rosa and Mayor Vince Lago recognized the heroism of first responders and pledged to remember those who died.
“The exceptionalism that is the United States was evident immediately following those towers being struck,” said Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa. “That exceptionalism was manifested in the fire fighters in spite insurmountable odds mounted one of the greatest rescues known to man.”
During the ceremony, officers raised a massive American flag above a fire rescue truck on Salzedo Street. Uniformed officers marched forward as a trumpet played taps, honoring the service members and first responders who gave their lives. The ceremony continued with the singing of the national anthem.
Moments of silence marked key points of the morning, while a bell tolling ceremony remembered when each plane struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania — as well as when the Twin Towers collapsed.
