Photo credits: Peter Lyons Hall L to R: Officials and Police: Deputy Town Supervisor, Russ Kowal; Lieutenant Morley, Warwick Town Supervisor, Jesse Dwyer; Orange County District Attorney David Hoover; and Warwick Police Chief, John Rader, all surrounded by members of the Town of Warwick Police Department.
By Peter Lyons Hall
Warwick paused this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, gathering at Memorial Park for a solemn ceremony honoring the seven local residents whose lives were cut short that day.
The commemoration drew together town and village officials, first responders and community members for a service centered on remembrance rather than politics — a moment, as it has been for a quarter-century, to say the names aloud and keep them close.
Among those remembered was Peter Gyulavary, an engineer who died when the Twin Towers collapsed, and Linda Gronlund, an attorney who was aboard United Airlines Flight 93 when it went down in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back against their hijackers. The ceremony also honored five FDNY firefighters with ties to Warwick who died in the line of duty that morning: Michael Fodor, John Ginley, Stephen Harrell Jr., Bruce Van Hine and John Williamson.
Rev. John Lashuay opened the service with an invocation, setting a reflective tone for the gathering before elected officials rose to speak.
Warwick Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer addressed the crowd, as did Village of Warwick Mayor Michael Newhard. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler also spoke, along with a representative from the office of state Assemblyman Karl Brabenec. Each speaker touched on themes that have become familiar at Warwick’s annual observance: the weight of loss carried by families and neighbors, the courage shown by first responders that day, those who succumbed to the aftermath of the toxic air breathed throughout the aftermath, and the responsibility of each new generation to remember what happened even as the anniversary recedes further into history.
Dwyer reminded attendees to remember what it was like on September 12: “Out of an unimaginable tragedy we witnessed an unbroken bond among Americans. Strangers comforted one another; neighbors looked out for each other; and our nation stood shoulder to shoulder in a spirit of unity and shared resolve. Today I encourage each of us to reflect upon that same unity that carried us forward after 911.”
Twenty-five years on, the ceremony carries particular resonance. Fewer residents now recall where they were that morning firsthand, and the observance has increasingly become an exercise in transmission — passing the memory of September 11 to those too young to have lived through it. Officials at the ceremony emphasized that the community’s obligation to remember does not diminish with time, even as the immediate shock of the day fades from living memory.
Memorial Park has served as the town’s gathering place for 9/11 remembrance since the day itself, when residents converged there spontaneously seeking connection and information as the attacks unfolded. That tradition continued this year, with the park once again serving as the physical anchor for a grief that, for Warwick, remains deeply local — seven names, seven families, and a community that has not forgotten.
