On Sept. 11, 2025, community leaders gathered at the Ashland riverfront to honor the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks and to highlight continuing health impacts faced by first responders. Ashland Police Chief Todd Kelly and Ashland Fire Chief Steve Alley led remarks that combined recollection of the events with calls to remember and support responders and families.

“We come together to remember, to honor, and to ensure that the events of 09/11/2001 are never forgotten,” Ashland Police Chief Todd Kelly said. Kelly gave a breakdown of law enforcement losses, saying “a total of 72 law enforcement officers died on that day,” including 37 from the Port Authority Police Department and 23 from the New York City Police Department. He also outlined details about American Airlines Flight 77, saying the flight “took off from Dulles Airport” and that the transponder was turned off before the aircraft later crashed into the Pentagon.

The ceremony combined remembrance with reflection on the long-term consequences for those who responded to the attacks. “Numerous first responders continue to suffer from the aftereffects of the attacks,” Ashland Fire Chief Steve Alley said, listing post-traumatic stress disorder, respiratory illnesses and various cancers among conditions facing rescuers. Alley told the audience that the number of responders who have since died of related illnesses now exceeds the initial count of responders killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Brent Turvey, identified in the program as director of Boyd County MS, read a short poem that reflected the calling of emergency medical personnel: “As I perform my duty, Lord, whatever be the call, help to guide and keep me safe from dangers big and small.” The invocation and musical or symbolic elements of the program framed the event as both memorial and a national day of service and reflection.

Speakers walked through a chronology of the morning of Sept. 11, 2001: Flight 11’s impact on the North Tower, Flight 175 striking the South Tower, Flight 77’s deviation and crash into the Pentagon, and Flight 93’s crash in Somerset County, Pa. The program cited aggregate casualty figures given by speakers: 2,996 total lives lost that day, including 2,531 civilians, 343 FDNY personnel, 71 NYPD and New York transit authority officers, and 51 military personnel.

Organizers and speakers emphasized local and national unity as part of the legacy of the attacks and called for continued support for first responders and their families. The ceremony concluded after a traditional three-bell memorial for fallen firefighters and an expression of thanks to attendees; no formal actions or policy decisions were made at the event.