New Bedford Firefighters Remember 9/11

Members of the New Bedford Fire Department assembled in front of their respective stations today and stood in silence to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. They were joined by members of the police force, Mayor Jon Mitchell, and others.

At precisely 10:05 a.m., the department's signal room announced over a radio channel the collapse of the south tower of the World Trade Center as it happened on September 11, 2001. The Fire Department's chaplain delivered words of prayer.

The annual ceremony honors those who died in the coordinated terror attacks that changed America forever. On that day, four airliners were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. American Airlines Flights 11 and 175 crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and the towers soon collapsed. American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers thwarted the hijackers. The attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities and over 25,000 injuries.

The attacks felled many first responders, with 343 firefighters and 72 police officers losing their lives.

"Never forget," the fire department posted on its Facebook page.