‘Our heart and minds are one: We shall not forget’
Monroe. The Village of Monroe’s annual observance of Sept. 11 is a reminder that we are stronger when we stand together.
| 15 Sep 2021 | 02:17
The names of the Monroe residents who died Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Photos by Sammie Finch.
Village of Monroe Mayor Neil S. Dwyer addresses the crowd.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag to the flag of the United States of America ....”
‘... and to the Republic for which its stands, one nation ....”
The procession.
Salute.
Passing along the light.
“We shall not forget.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 11 twenty years ago, Ascanio Giusto was working in a bakery in Suffern. He remember trying to crowd around the TV and radio to find out what happened.
“It was shocking,” said Giusto, an Italian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran who served from 1967 to 1969 and who is now part of the American Legion Post #488 in Monroe.
Last Saturday evening, twenty years to the day, Giusto was among the hundreds who gathered in the Village of Monroe for the village’s annual observance of that day that shook America.
They stood together in solidarity to remember not only the precious lives lost that day, including those from Monroe and surrounding communities, but those who have felt the effects of September 11th every day after.
The crowd was large as locals gathered to pay tribute. The ceremony, which included different religious scriptures, poetry and song was deep and moving.
Some of those in attendance Saturday were there, some were not yet born. Some were at work, others at home or school. But if you were alive on Sept. 11, 2001, you remember where you were when you first heard the news.
That’s why ceremonies like this in Monroe and elsewhere are important. It’s a reminder that we are stronger when we stand together.
“September 11th,” Giusto would say after the service, “is life changing for everybody, anybody.”