9/11 message from Mayor Ward

Press release from the City of Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Today, Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward released the following statement about the 25th anniversary of 9/11:

Today we remember those lost at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years.

For a quarter century we’ve recited the names of the 2,977 people who were killed in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. We’ve commemorated the first responders who rushed up the stairwells. We’ve celebrated the survivors who escaped in time, and we’ve mourned the lost with the family and friends, whose lives will never be the same.

Even today, the story continues. Scientists are still trying to match DNA to victims. People who worked in the ruins are still developing chronic illnesses and cancer from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.

We are changed forever.

But one thing that doesn’t change is the reverence we feel each time we think about that day.

When we see the strength and humanity that rose as quickly as the towers fell, we find meaning. We find comfort.

May some of that comfort find you today as we take a few moments to remember together.

Harvey