TEANECK, N.J. – Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Teaneck’s first responders stood together with the community Friday to remember the people who never came home.
Members of the Teaneck Police Department, Teaneck Fire Department, Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Department of Public Works participated in the township’s 9/11 Memorial Ceremony, marking a quarter-century since the attacks on New York, Washington and United Airlines Flight 93.
The gathering honored those killed on Sept. 11, their families and the first responders who went toward the destruction as thousands of others tried to escape.
Teaneck First Responders Gather With Community
For Teaneck, the anniversary brought several branches of local public safety and government together at the memorial.
Police shared photographs from the ceremony Friday, showing members of the community and local agencies gathered for the observance.
“As we marked the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, we gathered to honor and remember the lives lost, the families forever impacted, and the brave first responders who answered the call that day,” the department said.
The anniversary carries particular weight across Bergen County and North Jersey, where many communities lost residents in the World Trade Center attacks and countless others had personal connections to New York City.
Similar commemorations have been held across New Jersey this week, with police and fire departments recalling not only the people killed that morning but the responders who participated in rescue, recovery and cleanup operations afterward.
A Quarter-Century Later, Teaneck Remembers
The Teaneck ceremony was part of a week of remembrance surrounding Thursday’s 25th anniversary.
Sept. 11 ceremonies have changed with the passage of time. Many younger police officers, firefighters and residents attending them today were children when the attacks occurred — or had not yet been born.
For the departments that responded to Friday’s ceremony, the message was simpler.
“We will always remember their courage, sacrifice, and service,” Teaneck police said. “May we continue to stand together in unity and keep their memories alive.”
The department’s remembrance and photographs from the ceremony can be viewed on the Teaneck Police Department’s Facebook page.