By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
North Carolina communities marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks this week with a series of memorial ceremonies, stair climbs, service projects and permanent dedications spanning from Raleigh to Fayetteville.
At Chavis Park in Raleigh on Friday, Gov. Josh Stein reflected on the sense of national unity that followed the attacks.
"We cannot forget our feelings that day," Stein said. "We cannot forget the feelings the days after when we came together as a country."
Dozens gathered at the park, including Raleigh Fire Department Lt. James Jones, a volunteer fire department when the attacks unfolded.
Apex Fire Chief Tim Herman urged attendees to remember the victims as individuals rather than statistics.
"They were people who had families waiting for them. They were people who had served together for years," Herman said. "They were not numbers. Members of companies. Brothers and sisters. Mothers and fathers. Sons and daughters."
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks nationwide, including six Duke University alumni and hundreds of first responders.
Stein spent much of the week moving between ceremonies across the Triangle. On Thursday, he ordered state flags lowered in observance of Patriot Day and issued a statement tying the anniversary to the nation's 250th year.
"This year, during America's 250th year, we cherish what it means to be an American: to love freedom, justice, security, democracy, and peace," Stein said. "Let us honor the memories of our heroes: the brave passengers of Flight 93, the firefighters who rushed toward danger as people ran for their lives, and the neighbors who helped their neighbors through unthinkable tragedy. And let us remember that there is more that unites than divides us. America is strongest when we stand together."
Stein attended the North Carolina National Guard's memorial ceremony Friday morning at Joint Force Headquarters in Raleigh before joining the City of Raleigh and the nonprofit Activate Good for a day of service and remembrance.
At the Guard ceremony, Stein specifically recognized Greensboro native Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant aboard United Flight 93 who helped fight back against hijackers before the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and John Cerqueira, then a recent North Carolina State University graduate who helped carry a woman in a wheelchair down 68 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center's North Tower. The ceremony also honored the 30 North Carolina National Guard members killed in direct combat operations over the past 25 years, whose photos and names were displayed on memorial boards.
In Chapel Hill, UNC Army ROTC hosted a public memorial stair climb at 6 a.m. at Kenan Memorial Stadium, with participants climbing 2,071 stairs — the equivalent of the World Trade Center towers' 110 floors — in tribute to the 2,977 victims and the first responders who served that day. Organizers said the physical challenge was intended to give younger generations a more tangible understanding of the sacrifice firefighters made climbing the towers on Sept. 11.
Fuquay-Varina held its own remembrance ceremony at 8:30 a.m. at the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center, and Clayton hosted a public ceremony at 9 a.m. at Municipal Park featuring an honor guard, a bell tolling and 423 small flags representing the 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers and eight emergency medical personnel killed in the attacks.
In Raleigh, roughly 1,000 volunteers gathered at NC State for the inaugural Raleigh meal-packing event tied to 9/11 Day, packing an estimated 226,000 meals, which will be distributed by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
In Fayetteville, members of the Fort Bragg military community gathered Friday morning at the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum for a remembrance ceremony featuring moments of silence, the national anthem, a performance by an All-American band and a wreath-laying honoring the 2,977 people killed on Sept. 11. Krystal Huff, an attendee, reflected on the aftermath of the attacks.
Chief William Lehmann, now chief of emergency medical services at Fort Bragg, was working as a paramedic with the New York City Fire Department on the day of the attacks and said the memory of colleagues lost that day remains raw.
