One of the country’s most tragic days has not been forgotten in Taylor.
“On Sept. 11, 2001, America stood still,” said Councilmember Robert Garcia. “Everyone knows when and where they were at. That is etched in our minds forever.”
Garcia and others offered those sentiments and more during Taylor’s Patriot Day March & Program Sunday. It marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Numerous area first responders participated in the march down Main Street near sunset.
In addition to Taylor police and fire departments including Avery-Pickett Volunteer Fire Department, vehicles and representatives were sent from Weir, Thrall, Granger, Hutto, Bartlett, Sam Bass, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Elgin, Austin Fire, Texas Department of Public Safety, Williamson County Constable Precinct 4, Round Rock, Coupland and Jarrell.
“There’s a brotherhood,” said Garcia about local firefighters and law enforcement. “They may have not been there physically, but they were there spiritually and in prayer to help their fellow brothers and sisters on that day.”
Patriot Day has been observed nationally to remember Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers took control of four passenger planes as part of a coordinated terrorist attack. Two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania after passengers thwarted their hijackers’ planned target. In addition to lives lost in the planes and struck buildings, hundreds of first responders were killed in the aftermath of the attacks.
Chris Connealy, Williamson County director of Emergency Services, spoke about where he was when he heard about the attacks. At the time, he was fire chief at the Houston Fire Department. Like many major metropolitan cities on 9/11, false threats of more attacks ran rampant across the nation. “Thank God it was just rumors, and it wasn’t true,” said Connealy. “We opened up our emergency operation center and it was a day, just like you all, that I’ll never forget.”
Connealy also talked about his fellow counterparts in the New York and Washington D.C. police and fire departments as well as Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, all of whom were on the front lines of the tragedy. He also remembered first responders at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth plane went down after news of the initial attacks had spread.
“They rolled that day knowing what the outcome was going to be because they had heard what happened when the other planes crashed into the World Trade Center and certainly the Pentagon,” said Connealy. “They had to make that decision on the fly, and they didn’t hesitate, so God bless them.”
Taylor’s 9/11 remembrance ended shortly after sunset at Heritage Square.
“The city of Taylor deserves a big shoutout for being so faithful,” said Connealy. “As Americans we have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes we forget that. This is the best country the world has ever known.”
Firefighters salute as they raise the flag to half-staff at the Patriot Day program in Heritage Square.
Photos by Fernando Castro
The American waves in the air of downtown Taylor as first responders line up to march in remembrance of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
