Photo credit: Provided L to R: Village Trustees Chad Sellier and Thais Pilieri; Village Mayor, Tom Howley; Town Supervisor, Jesse Dwyer; and Village Trustee, John Trazino.
By Peter Lyons Hall
The Village of Greenwood Lake marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with its annual 9/11 Memorial Service, hosted by the Greenwood Lake Fire Department at 7 p.m. Friday at fire district headquarters on Lakes Road.
The evening gathering has become a fixture of the community’s calendar, but organizers said this year’s remembrance carried added weight. A quarter century has passed since the attacks, yet for many in attendance, the memories remained as vivid as if the day had just happened.
Speakers at the service pointed to Greenwood Lake’s long-standing ties to New York City, noting that many residents make the daily commute into the city for work — among them police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel and others who help keep the city running. On September 11, 2001, those ties became painfully personal, as the community lost friends, neighbors, colleagues and loved ones, and countless others were touched by the day’s events and their long aftermath.
The service honored those who left for work that September morning and never returned home, as well as the first responders who rushed toward danger as others fled, many giving their lives in the effort.
Organizers also used the occasion to honor a toll that has continued to grow in the 25 years since: the first responders, recovery workers, survivors and others who have died from 9/11-related illnesses tied to their exposure in the aftermath. For thousands of individuals and families, speakers noted, the impact of that day did not end when the smoke cleared — the illnesses and losses that followed in the years afterward remain part of the lasting toll of September 11, and organizers said they deserve to be remembered alongside those lost that morning.
The service also paid tribute to the families, friends and co-workers whose lives were forever altered, and reflected on how communities banded together in the face of the tragedy — a spirit organizers said Greenwood Lake continues to draw on today.
Community members were invited to the firehouse to remember those lost on September 11 and in the years since, to honor those who served, and to stand alongside the families and loved ones who continue to carry their memory forward.
As the community marked the milestone anniversary, the message from organizers echoed the one repeated at each year’s service: twenty-five years later, the promise remains the same — never forget.
