The combination of rain and an inoperative microphone were not going to get in the way of the annual Throggs Neck 9/11 memorial ceremony on Monday.
On Sept. 11, members of the Throggs Neck community gathered at the 9/11 memorial near FDNY Engine 72 to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
As the sun set on a mostly rainy day, local firefighters, police officers, other first responders and elected officials and Throggs Neck residents came together to remember those who were killed as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
The memorial, located at East Tremont Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway service road, includes the names of the 15 deceased firefighters and police officers from the Bronx who passed away on that horrific day. A candle within the memorial symbolized “a light of hope.”
The event was attended by FDNY firefighters of nearby Engine 72, NYPD police officers from the 45th Precinct as well as the Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, who were among the nearly 200 people in attendance.
Members of the Theodore Korony American Legion Post 253, American Legion Post 1456 and the John Fraser Bryant American Legion Post 19, were also on hand to pay tribute.
Monday’s ceremony concluded with the reading of more than 150 names, in alphabetical order — remembering all those Bronxites lost. FDNY Engine 72 sounded the firehouse bell after every name.
After the ceremony, many in attendance were supplied with a red rose to set at the foot of the memorial, after individually paying their respects to the victims.
Led by longtime organizer and fellow FDNY firefighter Mike Rahilly, the 9/11 memorial event featured speeches and poems dedicated and pertaining to those lost, as well as a trumpet solo performance of taps, also known as the “National Song of Remembrance” which is often sounded at military funerals.
The crowd also came together to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” during the memorial ceremony.
“What we did in response, as Americans — was really incredible,” Rahilly said. “You just saw a lot of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Let their names ring out out, and let their names be heard — on each and every anniversary.”
The FDNY lost 343 firefighters and paramedics on the day of the attacks — and has lost another 341 FDNY members since then as a result of Ground Zero-related illnesses, according to the New York Post — along with 23 NYPD police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers.
According to previous reporting by the Bronx Times and information from state Assemblymember Michael Benedetto’s office, the ceremony in Throggs Neck has been held every year since 2001, including the peak years of COVID-19. The 9/11 memorial was first dedicated in 2006.
Reach Steven Goodstein at sgoodstein@schnepsmedia.com or (718) 260-4561. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
