Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Allentown residents joined borough and county officials, first responders, civic organizations and students at Pete Sensi Park to remember those who were lost and reflect on the unity that followed Sept. 11, 2001.
Before the memorial service, a procession was held at 7 p.m. on Allen Drive, where residents could join and walk in solidarity. During the walk, members of the Lions Club handed out flowers and American flags to participants.
The memorial service began at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Pete Sensi Park on Old York Road. Members of the Lions Club held a 9/11 banner and an Allentown Borough banner while somber music played in the background. Mayor Thomas Fritts welcomed attendees and reflected on the day in 2001.
“For those of us who lived through that Tuesday morning, the blue of the sky that day is burned into our minds,” Fritts said. “We remember the shock, the profound grief, and the heavy silence that followed, but if we are being completely honest, we also remember the days that followed.”
“We remember the smoke rising but we also remember a nation rising with it. We saw the very best of humanity emerge from the worst act of terror. We saw courage that defied imagination and a unity that we still long for today.”
Fritts then announced that the Allentown Lions Club had donated a 9/11 memorial tree to Pete Sensi Park, the same type of tree used in New York City’s 9/11 plantings. He also announced a proposed concept for the park that would create an ongoing space to honor the victims of 9/11, veterans and first responders.
Tony Cacciotti, a member of the 9/11 Day of Remembrance Committee, said the ceremony focused on the past, present and future. The three speakers who followed each addressed one of those themes, remembering the response to the attacks, reflecting on their lasting impact and looking ahead to how younger generations will carry those memories forward.
The first speaker, Monmouth County Commissioner Ross Licitra, reflected on the past and how communities came together to help one another during a crisis.
“Restaurants provided meals, businesses donated supplies, people stood in line for hours to give blood,” Licitra said. “Volunteers traveled from every corner of America asking only one thing ‘What can I do to help?’”
Of the 2,977 people who were killed in the attacks, 147 were Monmouth County residents.
The next speaker, Kevin O’Neal, a member of the Lions Club, was part of the American Red Cross Mental Health Disaster Team in 2001 and recalled wondering what he could do to help those affected. He ultimately worked with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which lost 37 police officers in the attacks, and assisted officers, employees and their families afterward.
“I had the opportunity to work with the police officers and their families and the employees that made it out alive,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal later worked as an employee assistance professional counselor, helping people dealing with personal issues that interfered with their work. He worked with numerous first responders and, as a first responder himself, said the attacks can still feel as though they happened only yesterday.
The final speaker of the night was a student at Allentown High School. She recognized those who lost their lives that day and spoke about the responsibility her generation has to listen to and preserve the experiences of 9/11 survivors.
“It is because of the survivors and witnesses to these attacks that we, the younger generation, can keep the notion of unity alive and strong,” she said. “This is why we must never forget and never stop listening to the eyewitness accounts of these attacks.”
Councilman Daniel Payson came to the front of the ceremony and read the names of the 147 Monmouth County residents who lost their lives that day, along with the names of Allentown first responders who served on 9/11.
As he recited the names, attendees were invited to walk to the middle of the park and place their flowers at the new 9/11 memorial and their American flags around the trees.
Council Vice President Nikki Darling then addressed the crowd, speaking about teaching her children about the attacks and the importance of continuing to come together as a community to honor and remember the day.
“In remembering in unity, all these different organizations came together tonight to truly just reflect, honor, remember and hold dear to our heart,” Darling said. “That when we come together in love, when we come together with good intentions, when we come together to right wrongs, there is nothing that can beat this community.”
The gathering itself reflected that message. Twenty-five years after the attacks, municipal and county officials stood alongside first responders, civic organizations, students and residents in a shared remembrance of those who died and those who answered the call to help.
A prayer followed Darling’s remarks, and the ceremony concluded with three songs performed by the Allentown marching band and a performance by the Civil Air Patrol.
