Saratoga Springs holds 9/11 remembrance ceremony with veterans, first responders and civic leaders

At a remembrance ceremony in Saratoga Springs marking the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, residents, first responders and military representatives gathered for music, prayers, wreath-laying and personal accounts from veterans and a retired New York City firefighter.

Commander James Venterford Jr., identified in the program as the commanding officer at MPTU Boston for the U.S. Navy, thanked the city for its long-standing support of the Navy and spoke about how service and recruitment changed after Sept. 11. He urged the community to keep telling the stories of that day so lessons are not lost.

"We will never forget the attack on our nation," Commander Venterford said, emphasizing the role of service members and volunteers who stepped forward in the days after the attacks.

Pastor Mark Herrera of Pine Grove Community Church delivered the invocation, naming the towers, the lives lost and urging attendees to seek peace and justice in their remembrance. The program included musical performances by Jeff Brisbane and a moment of silence and bell strikes — the bell to be rung 23 times to mark each year since the attacks.

The ceremony’s keynote speaker, Captain John Viola, a retired FDNY firefighter and project director for Heart 911 (a volunteer group that supports veterans and disabled first responders), recounted his experience responding on Sept. 11, 2001. He described searching the collapse zone and the long recovery effort that followed.

"As I took some steps forward, I stopped, and I looked down, and the very first thing I saw was a piece of landing gear from an aircraft. And, unfortunately, right next to that was the foot of an infant," Captain Viola said, describing the immediate and lasting trauma experienced by first responders.

Speakers at the event repeatedly honored firefighters, police officers and other rescuers. Wreaths were placed by Saratoga Springs Fire Chief Aaron Dodd, Saratoga Springs Police Chief Tyler McIntosh and representatives of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The master of ceremonies closed the event with thanks to organizers and a reminder to keep victims and families in attendees’ thoughts.

The ceremony combined musical tributes, public prayers, first-person testimony and ceremonial honors. Organizers asked attendees to remember victims and to carry forward lessons from that day; the program concluded with retirement of the colors and the formal end of the ceremony.

Note on names and transcript inconsistencies: the event program and transcript include multiple spellings and references for local officials (the transcript alternately uses different surnames for the mayor and for some organizations). This article uses role labels (for example, “the mayor”) where the transcript contained conflicting personal names to avoid misidentification.