WESTFIELD ¬– Members of the public are invited to a ceremony Tuesday at the Westfield Fire Department to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.
Westfield Fire Chief May Regan has announced that the annual ceremony will be conducted at 9:55 a.m. Tuesday in front of the Broad Street fire headquarters.
The department’s fire apparatus will be lined up on the apron outside the headquarters building and the firefighters on duty will assemble to honor all the victims of the attack.
The firefighters will stand silently at attention as four sets of five chimes, the traditional recognition of the line-of-duty death of a firefighter, are sounded in recognition of the attack on the first of the World Trade Center towers and the national colors are lowered to half-staff.
A moment of silence will be observed before prayers are offered for the victims of the attacks.
A second set of chimes will be sounded to mark the attack on the second of the towers and the flag will be returned to the top of the flagpole.
Regan suggests that residents who attend the ceremony arrive about 9:45 a.m.
Relatives of the three city natives – Tara Shea Creamer, Brian J. Murphy and Daniel P. Trant – who died in the attack have been invited to the ceremony. Fire commissioners and other city officials are expected to attend.
The ceremony will be followed by coffee and light refreshments at the headquarters.
In Southwick, a similar ceremony will be staged at 9:45 a.m.
Fire Chief Richard Anderson said, in a press release, that the annual ceremony in Southwick will honor “the extraordinary heroism, commitment and sacrifice of the 9/11 victims, rescuers and their families” and pay special tribute to “to the 343 Fire Fighters and Paramedics who lost their lives.”
