9/11 Spirit of America Memorial in Cashmere. Photo courtesy: Spirit of America Memorial Foundation.
23 years ago Wednesday, a terror attack on U.S. soil, airliners hijacked and at the World Trade Center towers in New York.
343 firefighters, 60 police officers, 8 paramedics, 1 K-9 officer, 2,606 people working in the trade centers, and 246 on airline flights lost their lives.
Manson Fire Chief Arnold Baker recalls, "I remember the day vividly, it was just another day when we woke up. We woke up to KOZI radio every morning which reported a plane into the towers."
"What can we do to help, and you wanted to jump in," said Baker. "My job is to protect my community here. It's like being on alert."
"The big disbelief is when the buildings (towers) started crumbling, it was not a great feeling," recalled Chelan Fire and Rescue Chief Brandon Asher, who at the time of the attack, was a firefighter in Moses Lake. "It was a stunned feeling for a second. I'm on the responsible crew to respond to anything that happens in the city today and what could potentially happen. It was kind of a sense of readiness but definitely a sense of awe, a sense of sadness."
Wenatchee Police Chief Edgar Reinfeld was working a shift as a police and fire dispatcher at the time. Chief Reinfeld, as a U.S. Air Force Reservist, was told be “at the ready” to respond to New York.
"The tragedy of learning of all the deaths of the firefighters and the officers, gosh I'm getting a little emotional," sighed the Chief. "When stuff goes bad, when something is really truly wrong, we're the ones that run into the place that everyone else should be running from. And to have 343 FDNY firefighters die that day is horrible."
At the main fire station in Manson, Chief Baker reflected, "The memory of 9/11 is so vivid in my mind, yet I have firefighters that weren't born yet. It kinda sets me back as to how many years have gone by."
"It's our responsibility to carry on that memory to our next generation," Chief Baker said. "We never want to forget the impact to what we do and what we're committed to. You're life may be requested of you tomorrow in the line of duty, but we serve our community and if that's the price we pay, that's the price we pay."
Responding firefighters from a station in Verplanck, New York would later offer a tower truck with an aerial platform used in firefighting to the Manson Department. That truck is in use today. The fire station also has a World Trade Center artifact on display.
The 23rd Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony will be held Wednesday morning at the 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial at Riverside Park in Cashmere.
The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. but will be preceded by a special naturalization ceremony for 30 new U.S. citizens at 9:30 a.m.
Doug Jones, President of the Spirit of America Memorial Foundation says 9/11 is a perfect day to welcome new citizens to the country.
Norma Gallegos with Hand in Hand Immigration Services says the naturalization ceremony is the final step in a lengthy journey to U.S. citizenship.
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