Deerpark Memorial Ceremony Pays Tribute to Lives Lost in 9/11 Attacks

A ribbon dedicated to former New York City firefighter and Port Jervis resident Douglas Miller on a 9/11 memorial tree next to the town hall in Deerpark, N.Y., on Sept. 11, 2024. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

Residents from Western Orange County communities gathered in front of Deerpark Town Hall on the early morning of Sept. 11 to honor lives lost in the tragic terror attack 23 years ago.

The annual memorial ceremony is one of the oldest in Orange County. It has run consecutively since the year after the attack and has grown into a cherished local tradition.

At 8:46 a.m., the exact time the first hijacked airplane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on that fateful day, Assemblyman Karl Brabenec commenced the ceremony.

“September 11, 2001, is a day that forever changed our world,” Brabenec said. “We honor the nearly 3,000 lives that were lost, the first responders who brushed with danger, and the countless individuals who showed incredible resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity.”

Forty-four Orange County residents died in the attack. More than half of them, or 26, were New York City firefighters who rushed to rescue lives and never came home.

Orange County Legislator Tom Faggione said at the ceremony that as destructive and tragic as the attack was, it also brought out the best sides of the American people.

“Our communities came together, like America always does, for their neighbors, friends, and families,” he said.

During the ceremony, students from the nearby Delaware Valley School District and officials placed colorful bows on a crabapple tree next to the town hall to commemorate those who lost their lives in the terror attack.

The tree was planted 22 years ago at the request of town clerk Florence Santini.

“I wanted a living memorial, something that is going to be here for years to come and something you can look at and remember how small it was when planted,” she told The Epoch Times.

Attendees stood in a moment of silence for 9/11 victims at a memorial ceremony in the town of Deerpark, N.Y., on Sept. 11, 2024. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

“We are now almost a generation removed from 9/11, the initial day,” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said at the ceremony. “All of us have a duty to make sure that we teach and remind the youth what happened that day, what it was like to live on that day, and the lessons of that day.”

Port Jervis High School’s select choir performed with director Ruth Gordon the famed 9/11 song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” written by Alan Jackson.

“The saying is ‘never forget,’” Andrew Marotta, Port Jervis school district director of communications and former high school principal, told The Epoch Times. “It is our job to help them not forget, even though they weren’t there when 9/11 happened.”

Aside from honoring lives lost to the attack, the annual ceremony also pays tribute to active military members. Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge and Deerpark resident Mark Fox read aloud a long list of locals serving in the military at the ceremony.

“As we express our respect and appreciation to the members of our community who are serving on active duty and to their families, we also thank those who have previously served in the Armed Forces of the United States during the 284 years of our Republic,” Fox said.

“As we remember and honor those who died on September 11, we also say to all our firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, EMTs, and to the highway workers who keep the roads passable during storms, to all our first responders who keep us safe, ‘Thank you.’”