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09/12/2019 12:00 AMWith the hope that the next generation will continue to remember Sept. 11, 2001 and honor the victims and heroes who died that day, the Town of Branford held a moving Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at Branford Fire Headquarters.
The Branford ceremony recognized all of the lives lost, the bravery and sacrifice of the first responders who laid down their lives that day; as well as those who have been sickened or have since succumbed due the dangerous health conditions created by collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City.
As it does every year, the ceremony also provided an opportunity for a grateful community to thank its firefighters, police and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
The morning ceremony was held in the vehicle bays at Branford Fire Headquarters, 45 North Main St., where an audience of community supporters was seated in a central bay. Uniformed members of Branford Fire Department (BFD) and Branford Police Department (BPD) assembled in four rows beside the audience and remained standing for the hour-long ceremony.
At the podium in front of a huge American flag, Branford Fire Chief Thomas Mahoney and Branford Police Chief Jonathan Mulhern gathered with community leaders including First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove, Selectmen Joe Higgins and Jack Ahern, Branford State Representative Robin Comey (District 102), State Senator Christine Cohen (District 12), members of the town's 9/11 Memorial Committee and BPD Chaplain Rev. Bill Keane.
Over 75 attendees came out to participate in the ceremony, which opened as BFD and BPD members presented the colors, drummed in by a cadre of Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps members. The fife and drummers also provided additional patriotic music during the ceremony. Branford High School Music Makers, directed by Michael Martone, performed the event's choral selections.
In his welcoming remarks, Mahoney said, "...shortly after 9/11, this country came together like we've never seen before. That America never left us. That America is still here. We see it every single day, in acts of kindness to each other. We witness it in this building. That spirit is always with us, and always will be with us. It can never be destroyed."
In part, Cosgrove's remarks reflected on how those who tragically lost their lives to 9/11 also left behind others "...who were directly impacted by those events: friends, families, co-workers who lost loved ones on that day."
"These are our neighbors, our friends, [and] we need to provide strength and support for them," said Cosgrove. "I thank all of you for being here as we, the Town of Branford, fulfill our commitment to never forget."
The morning's speakers also included a moving remembrance given by Higgins, a retired veteran of the New York Fire Department (NYFD). Higgins was deputy director of dispatch operations in Manhattan on 9/11 and manned NYFD's main communications dispatch center during the attack and collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Among 343 NYFD first responders who died that day, Higgins lost 79 of his personal friends.
In 2006, Higgins relocated to Branford with his wife, Angela. Since that time, the two have been instrumental in helping to bring the town together each year to remember 9/11. Now that 9/11 is nearly 20 years in the past, Joe Higgins said it's important not only to honor and remember that day, but to teach a new generation of kids who did not experience it to understand its importance.
"I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for coming to see us this morning, to pray with us this morning, to come and sing with us this morning," said Higgins. "It is something I'm going to have to live with, but more important, it's something these kids are going to have to live with, so they understand what happened."
Angela Higgins also drove home that point, saying "...we need to continue to communicate to our children and grandchildren how fortunate we are that our first responders answer our calls, no matter the time, day or night; and that the events of 9/11 did not detract from their calling to service."
Higgins also said she hoped kids today and in the future recognize there is "nothing to fear" because communities can count on the efforts of first responders.
"Whether we know it or not, every day, we are strengthened by the dedication of our first responders," she said, adding, "...each year, we yield to this day and make every effort to regenerate the feelings of patriotism felt in the days following 9/11. I believe our firefighters, police and EMTs are patriots and heroes. They deserve recognition. 'Thank you' is such a small phrase, but when expressed, it is a huge exercise in showing our appreciation to them."
Mahoney also asked those gathered to recognize the U.S. Military members who have been fighting the "war on terror" since 9/11, including the many who have lost their lives.
"It's a never-ending, ongoing war that they fight, to keep this nation safe and prevent any future terror attacks," said Mahoney.
Some especially poignant moments of Branford's 9/11 ceremony included the Tolling of the Bells, a traditional signal for firefighters who have died in the line of duty. In the days of telegraphs, a series of five taps, repeated three times (5-5-5), indicated to a company the loss of a member. The same signal, rung by bell, is now used ceremoniously to represent lives lost in the fire service.
Branford Firefighter/EMT MacKenzie Spooner performed the tolling of the bells. As the sound of the last bell receded, the assembled first responders saluted, while four Branford police officers fired a rifle salute into the air just beyond the open bay doors; followed by a bugle sounding Taps.
As Mahoney had noted at the opening of the ceremony, more than 3,000 died during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in NYC; including 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and eight EMTs and paramedics, all who "...rushed in, without thought, to do what they could," he said.
"We continue to lose those first responders," Mahoney said, noting the recent milestone of losing the 200th firefighter due to "9/11-related cancer," and that 241 police officers, to date, have died from the WTC collapse exposure.
"It is estimated more than half a million people were exposed to the toxic cloud that day, including the 90,000 workers who continued for months and years to rebuild on the site," said Mahoney. "Our continued thoughts and prayers are with them as they deal with these horrible illnesses from that day."