Front Royal Marks 25 Years Since 9/11 With Remembrance at the Gazebo

Front Royal residents gathered at the Gazebo on Sept. 11 to mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, remembering the nearly 3,000 people who were killed and honoring the first responders, service members, and ordinary citizens who stepped forward during one of the darkest days in American history.

Sue Laurence welcomes the crowd to the Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at the Gazebo in Front Royal, thanking those who attended and the community members who helped ensure the annual observance continued.

Sue Laurence hosted the community remembrance and opened by thanking attendees, along with neighbors who helped keep the annual observance going.

Laurence gave special recognition to members of “Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood,” who stepped in when Skip and Kathy Rogers thought the ceremony might have to be canceled.

Michael Sean Williams opened the gathering with an invocation, asking those present to remember the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, and first responders who never made it home that day.

“May we remember from September 11, 2001, the people we chose to be on September 12, 2001,” Williams said.

His prayer also asked those gathered to choose kindness and compassion in times of disagreement and to remember the sense of community that followed the attacks.

Michael Hasty then performed the National Anthem before the ceremony turned to a timeline of the events of Sept. 11.

Community members gather at the Gazebo in Front Royal on Sept. 11 for a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The remembrance honored the victims, first responders, service members, and others affected by the events of that day.

The program recalled how a normal Tuesday morning changed as four commercial aircraft were hijacked in a coordinated terrorist attack.

At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Michael Hasty rang a bell to mark the moment.

At 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. Derek Ganley rang the bell as the program remembered the passengers, crew, and people inside the building.

The ceremony then turned to American Airlines Flight 77, which had departed Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles before being hijacked and turned back toward the Washington area.

At 9:37 a.m., Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon. Shane Boswell rang the bell in remembrance.

The program noted that 184 people were killed in the Pentagon attack, including 125 people inside the building and 59 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.

Among those remembered were military personnel, civilian employees, contractors, children and teachers on a school trip, and others whose ordinary morning ended in tragedy.

The final hijacked aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, departed Newark, New Jersey. Passengers and crew learned through telephone calls that other planes had already struck the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Realizing their aircraft was likely part of the same attack, passengers and crew decided to fight back.

At about 10:02 a.m., Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone aboard. Walt Mabe rang the bell in their memory.

The ceremony also remembered the collapse of the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 10:28 a.m., the later collapse of Building 7, and President George W. Bush’s address to the nation that evening.

Laurence reminded those gathered to remember the victims as individuals, not statistics.

“They were parents, children, brothers, sisters, friends, coworkers, firefighters, police officers, military personnel, and ordinary people simply going about their lives,” the ceremony script read.

The program also focused on the courage that followed the attacks.

First responders ran toward burning and collapsing buildings while thousands of others fled. Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical workers, military personnel, and civilians helped strangers, searched for survivors, and supported grieving families.

“September 11 also reminded us how connected we are,” Laurence said from the prepared program. “In the face of tragedy, people reached out to strangers. Communities came together.”

The message took on added importance on the 25th anniversary, as an increasing number of Americans are too young to remember the attacks themselves.

“Remembering does not mean living in fear or hatred,” the program stated. “It means honoring those who were lost and learning from what happened.”

Remembering Where They Were

Del. Delores Oates, representing Virginia’s 31st District, shared her memories of the morning of Sept. 11 and the uncertainty that followed.

“It can’t be 25 years,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been 25 years.”

Oates recalled hearing the first report of an aircraft striking the World Trade Center while she was at the local post office. At first, she assumed it was a small aircraft and an accident.

Then came word of the second plane.

“I knew that life would change at that moment,” she said.

Her husband was in Washington, D.C., while her oldest son was working near Dulles Airport. Both areas went into lockdown as Americans waited to learn whether more attacks were coming.

Oates said annual ceremonies are especially important for generations that have no personal memory of that morning.

“Someday there will be people attending this service who don’t remember,” she said. “And it’s for them that we have to remember.”

She also recalled the first responders who went into the World Trade Center and the unity that followed in communities across the country.

“There were no more Republicans or Democrats; there were no more divisions,” Oates said. “We were Americans.”

A Veteran Reflects on Service

Shane Boswell also spoke about his experience on Sept. 11, 2001.

Boswell said he was a high school senior when an announcement came over the school’s public-address system telling students to return to their homerooms because something was happening.

Eleven months later, he enlisted in the military.

Boswell said the willingness to serve was first demonstrated that morning by firefighters, paramedics, police officers, port authority personnel, and ordinary citizens who ran toward danger.

“Times of crisis have an opportunity to bring us together,” he said. “We look for our neighbors, we look for our friends, we find friends in strife, and we come together as helpers.”

For Boswell, “never forget” also means remembering people who continue to live with the consequences of their service.

He spoke of veterans and first responders dealing with trauma, brain injuries, respiratory illnesses, and cancers that can emerge many years after exposure.

“We remember what we lost, and we remember what we’re still losing every day,” Boswell said.

He described the annual gathering as a chance to set politics aside and stand together.

“It’s one of the most American things I can imagine,” he said.

The ceremony included thanks for service members, members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors and Front Royal Town Council, and first responders and community members who continue to serve locally.

Laurence also thanked Skip and Kathy Rogers for their long commitment to keeping the annual remembrance alive.

The program concluded with music and memories shared by Kenny Hasty, closing a morning centered on remembrance, service, and the responsibility to carry the story of Sept. 11 forward.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, the message at the Gazebo remained the same: remember those who were lost, honor those who served, and make sure future generations understand why the nation promised never to forget.