Sept. 11 ceremony honors firemen, police everywhere

Fire engines and police cars lined the street outside of City Hall on Thursday morning for a Sept. 11 Remembrance Day ceremony organized by the City of Bloomington.

The ceremony opened with the presentation of colors by the Bloomington Police and Fire departments as the public and other elected officials watched them raise the flag to half-staff. Fire Department chaplain Harold Godsey opened the ceremony with a prayer blessing for the people in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, and he blessed the people of Bloomington for their dedicated service every day.

Bloomington Fire Department Chief Roger Kerr spoke next about his staff staying committed every day.

“Normal now means training for weapons of mass destruction, and no agency or department can handle everything on their own, so we depend on each other for support,” Kerr said. “Most importantly, we need to stop and remember those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 and those that have perished defending our country fighting since that day,” Kerr said.

Speakers talked about how Sept. 11 affected them, including Peggy Welch, a state representative, who talked about when she tried to lift a rescue basket from the fire department with a life-size dummy in it.

“I attempted to pick it up but it was so heavy,” she said. “I tried to lift a fire hose too and it was heavy, and that’s when a fireman told me to think about (how) on 9/11 those firefighters in full gear carrying these hoses or rescue baskets,” Welch said.

State Sen. Vi Simpson spoke next, reading an excerpt from an article she kept that was published on the first anniversary of Sept. 11, written by a woman who survived the attacks and wrote about what she would want people to do in honor of the victims.
“Light a candle and never forget those who protect us and, throughout these ordinary acts of American life, show those who would do us harm that they have failed,” Simpson said. 

As Simpson finished, Bloomington resident Susan Strom wiped her eyes.
“I thought it was very moving, and I’m certainly glad the city does this,” Strom said after the ceremony. “It’s a day that changed our lives.”

Mayor Mark Kruzan agreed.

“What came to my mind was what a beautiful clear day as it exactly was seven years ago in New York City and in D.C. and in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We set aside special days each year to formally thank the firefighters and police officers here in Bloomington and around here, but what we really should be doing is taking the time to thank you talented women and men daily.”

Later, special presentations were made. Four sergeants received awards, and the Mayor received a special flag that a marine had flown in Baghdad. After the awards, the tradition of the firefighters’ bell was told.

The bell is something that symbolized the beginning of a shift, the end of a shift or the death of a fire fighter when it rang.

A signal of five rings followed the story to represent fire fighters everywhere. Immediately after this a line of eight veterans holding rifles fired three gunshots over the public’s head.

The ceremony came to a close with the playing of Taps and Amazing Grace on trumpet and bagpipe.

“I think it was very, very good,” said Wayne Rogers, a Bloomington resident. “I’m so glad the city puts this on.”