On Saturday morning, Sebastian residents woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a 20th anniversary 9/11 ceremony at the Veteran’s War Memorial in Riverview Park, hosted by the Sebastian Police Department.
It was twenty years ago today when 2,977 lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks. Many people discussed where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, when two passenger planes crashed into the buildings at the World Trade Center in New York City.
Mayor Ed Dodd, Police Chief Dan Acosta, Police Captain Timothy Wood, Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry, Detective Ken McDonough, Rev. Grant Foster, City Council members Fred Jones, Chris Nunn, Lieutenant Chris Beaumont of the Indian River County Shores Safety Department, Deputy Chief Mark Shaw, Fr. Dave Newhart, and many others were in attendance.
Above the ceremony was a prominent United States flag tied to a ladder from a fire truck. People showed up this morning for a time to reflect and a time to remember.
“Twenty years ago, we remember that there were folks just going about their day, flight attendants, pilots, boarding planes that they would not know would be a part of our history,” Rev. Grant Foster said.
Detective Ken McDonough has been with the Sebastian Police Department for 16 years. Before that, he was an officer with the New York Police Department for seven years and responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
McDonough shared a moving story about the events he witnessed on that tragic day in New York City. McDonough’s account of the events on Sept. 11, 2001, is very moving, so we wanted you to hear it from him.
You can watch McDonough tell his story by clicking here.
We will never forget 9/11.