SILVIS, Ill. — Community members, fire fighters, police officers and local politicians gathered at the Silvis Fire Station Saturday morning to remember those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
2,996 people died that day. Of those, 415 were first responders; 343 firefighters and 72 police officers.
A moment of silence was observed at 9:28 CST, the time the second of the World Trade Center towers, the North Tower, collapsed.
Neil Anderson, a Moline firefighter and the Illinois State Senator for the 36th District, spoke about what it was like for him to listen to the dispatch recordings from that day.
"Everything is literally crumbling around them," he said. "But yet, what sticks out is none of that matters to them. They're here to do a job and do it well."
Senator Anderson also spoke out his own experience as a firefighter.
"I can tell you from experience, they were all scared, but none of them quit or ran away," he said. "Every one of those guys went into the towers that day, they knew they weren't coming out. They knew that was their day to die. ... They were not going to see their kids, their wives, their families ever again. Knowing all that they did it not reluctantly, but they did it willingly moving forward. That is heroic."
Daniel Roach, a retired Illinois State Police Captain, also spoke about his experiences in the police force and of the comradery. He shared the story of a survivor, Damien Van Cleef, a New York City firefighter.
"[He] described about running up those stairs in the North Tower, you start to feel the anxiety build up," Roach said. "You take a deep breath, and you say, 'It's gonna be alright. Let's just keep going. My brothers ahead of me and my brothers behind me, we're in this together, and we're going to do what we have to do.' Imagine running up those stairs with these guys."
The ceremony also featured a prayer and a wreath presentation. Outside the fire station lay American flags in the shape of the Twin Towers.
At the end was the ceremony of the bell, a tradition of 200 years in fire departments:
"In the past, as fire fighters began their tour of duty, it was the bell that signaled the beginning of that day’s shift. Throughout the day and night, each alarm was sounded by a bell, which summoned these brave souls to fight fires and to place their lives in jeopardy for the good of their fellow citizen. And when the fire was out and the alarm had come to an end, it was the bell that signaled to all the completion of that call. When a fire fighter had died in the line of duty, paying the supreme sacrifice, it was the mournful toll of the bell that solemnly announced a comrade's passing. We utilize these traditions as symbols, which reflect honor and respect on those who have given so much and who have served so well. To symbolize the devotion that these brave souls had for their duty, a special signal of three rings, three times each, represents the end of our comrades’ duties and that they will be returning to quarters. And so, to those who have selflessly given their lives for the good of their fellow man, their tasks completed, their duties well done, to our comrades, their last alarm, they are going home."