Overlooking both The Rising Memorial and the recently added Westchester County 9/11 First Responders Memorial, Westchester County Executive George Latimer joined with County residents to mark the solemn 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Latimer said: “Twenty-one years have passed since that tragic day. Twenty-one years of a new world. While we have all have had our own experiences since that day, it is our shared experience that still brings us together. Since that shared experience, we have new loved ones to mourn due to that day, and this year we honor them by adding 25 additional names to the 9/11 First Responders Memorial. We mourn, remember and continually say the names of those we have lost, for they will never be forgotten.”
The county’s ceremony, emceed by News12 Journalist Lisa LaRocca and overlooking the beautiful Kensico Dam, was a service marked with moving speeches, music and solemn prayers by Reverend Tim Dalton, Imam Shaffieq Chace, and Rabbi Scott Weiner.
LaRocca said: “I’ve spent just about every 9/11 anniversary reporting live from The Rising since the unveiling of this beautiful monument which honors our Westchester County neighbors who were lost on that terrible day. Over the years, I’ve met many friends and family members who come to this special place to remember their loved ones, so to be chosen to serve as emcee for The Westchester County 9/11 Memorial Ceremony is truly an honor.”
The ceremony opened with a procession by the Westchester County Department of Public Safety Ceremonial Unit Color Guard, the Pipes and Drums
of the Police Emerald Society of Westchester County and representatives from various fire departments County-wide. White Plains Department of Public Safety
Commissioner, and 9/11 First Responder David Chong, then led the ceremony attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by County Department of
Correction Sergeant Joetta Crump’s singing of the National Anthem.
The solemn occasion was then marked by the laying of a wreath by Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, Department of Emergency Services Commissioner Richard Wishnie, Acting Department of Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor, Lisabeta Vukaj, sister of Simon Marash Dedvukaj who was killed in the north tower, and Sarah, Oliva and Anna Woods, the wife and daughters of 9/11 First Responder Sergeant Peter Woods. Woods was a member of the NYPD, Hartsdale Fire Commissioner & Co-Chair of the Westchester County 9/11 First Responders Memorial. Woods succumbed to a 9/11 related illness prior to the public unveiling of the now one-year-old memorial.
Board of Legislators Chairwoman Catherine Borgia then gave remarks. Borgia said: “It is important for us to gather every year to honor those lost on September
11th and from serving the rescue and cleanup during the weeks following the attack. Memorial services like this remind us that when communities
come together we reinforce our love for each other and the strength we have when we stand together.”
The day prior to the ceremony, Sept. 10, Latimer was joined by family members of those who have passed from 9/11-related illnesses for a private unveiling of the 25 new names added to the county’s 9/11 First Responders Memorial. This one-year-old monument, placed next to The Rising at Kensico Dam
Plaza, was designed by a committee made up of loved ones of those lost.
Committee Co- Chairs New York City Police Officer Matthew J. McCauley and Georgia Asciutto said: “On behalf of the families of Westchester’s
Fallen 9/11 First Responders, we thank County Executive George Latimer for his leadership, support and unwavering commitment to our lost heroes and
his resolve to keeping their memories alive and their contributions honored.”
Last year at the public unveiling of the new memorial, an Eternal Light was lit. A light that will shine 24/7 over the memorial as a testament to the light shone over this county by the heroes this monument is dedicated to.
The ceremony continued on with the reading of the names of those Westchester residents killed on 9/11 and those Westchester residents who have died
from 9/11 related illnesses by Westchester County Legislators, District Attorney Miriam Rocah, County Clerk Tim Idoni and family members of those lost.
Names of those lost on 9/11:
• William Abrahamson
• Peter Craig Alderman
• Kazuhiro Anai
• Sharon Balkcom
• Yelena Belilovsky
• Michael J. Berkeley
• George Bishop
• Michael A. Boccardi
• Michelle Renee Bratton
• Thomas M. Brennan
• Jonathan Eric Briley
• Mark Brisman
• Lloyd Brown
• Ronald Bucca
• Tom Burke
• Mary T. Caulfield
• Alex Ciccone
• Kevin Francis Cleary
• Robert J. Coll
• Helen Crossin-Kittle
• Joan Cullinan
• Patrick W. Danahy
• Dwight Darcy
• Marisa DiNardo
• Simon A. Dhanani
• John J. Doherty
• Christopher Michael Duffy
• Paul Fiori
• Thomas Fitzpatrick
• Simon Dedvukaj
• Kevin Joseph Frawley
• Alan W. Friedlander
• John Patrick Gallagher
• Charles Garbarini
• Peter Gelinas
• Kieran Joseph Gorman
• Yugi Goya
• Gary Haag
• Richard B. Hall
• Vincent Halloran
• W. Ward Haynes
• Nobuhiro Hayatsu
• Katsuyuki Hirai
• Thomas Warren Hohlweck, Jr.
• Montgomery McCullogh Hord
• Louis Steven Inghilterra
• Ariel Louis Jacobs
• Arthur Joseph Jones
• Douglas G. Karpiloff
• Satoshi Kikuchihara
• Takashi Kinoshita
• Glenn Kirwin
• Richard J. Klares
• Gary Koecheler
• Vanessa Langer
• Denis Lavelle
• Joseph Leavey
• Michael A. Lepore
• Richard Lynch, Jr.
• Michael J. Lyons
• Katie Marie McCloskey
• John T. McErlean, Jr.
• Francis McGuinn
• Michael McHugh, Jr.
• Barry J. McKeon
• Robert C. McLaughlin, Jr.
• Christopher D. Mello
• Yamel Merino
• William Minardi
• Krishna V. Moorthy
• George Morell
• Dennis Moroney
• Takuya Nakamura
• Soichi Numata
• James A. Oakley
• Diana J. O’Connor
• Amy O’Doherty
• Marni Pont O’Doherty
• Samuel Oitice
• Sean Gordon Corbett O’Neill
• Chris Orgielewicz
• Timothy F. O’Sullivan
• Michael B. Packer
• Thomas Palazzo
• James Nicholas Pappageorge
• William H. Pohlmann
• Hemanth Kumar Puttur
• Vincent A. Princiotta
• Valsa Raju
• Robert A. Rasmussen
• John Reo
• Joseph R. Riverso
• Gregory E. Rodriguez
• Edward Ryan
• Tatiana Ryjova
• Sam Salvo
• Eric Sand
• Robert Scandole
• Marian Serva
• Daniel Shea
• Joseph Shea
• Linda Sheehan
• Thomas J. Shubert
• Allan Schwartzstein
• David Silver
• Michael John Simon
• Thomas E. Sinton III
• Rochelle M. Snell
• Robert Speisman
• Joseph P. Spor, Jr.
• Timothy C. Stout
• John Swaine
• Sean Patrick Tallon
• Michael A. Tamuccio
• Kenichiro Tanaka
• Joanna Vidal
• Jeffrey Walz
• James Arthur Waring
• Timothy Matthew Welty
• William Wik
• Marc Zeplin
• Ivelin Ziminski
• Joseph J. Zuccala
The tribute concluded with a moment of silence, flyover by County Police, a performance of Taps by Mount Pleasant Police Officer Peter Blume. Musicians from SUNY Purchase then played as attendees made their way to The Rising and the 9/11 First Responders Memorial.
