FORT RUCKER, Ala. — Soldiers, firefighters, families and community members gathered Friday morning at Fire Station 1 on Fort Rucker to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, honoring the lives lost and paying tribute to the firefighters, police officers, medical personnel and military members who answered the nation’s call in the years that followed.
The ceremony opened with remarks from Firefighter Michael Quattlebaum and a prayer from Chaplain (Maj.) Andrew Dressler, who reflected on the enduring weight of the day. “A quarter century has passed since a clear September morning became a day of terror, sacrifice, and sorrow,” he said, noting that a generation has now grown up knowing 9/11 only through the stories passed down.
Dressler recalled the legacy of firefighter Stephen Siller, who ran 2.33 miles toward the World Trade Center carrying 60 pounds of gear, a distance participants walked Friday in tribute.
“May those 2.33 miles signify more than the distance one man ran,” Dressler said. “May they remind us of duty willingly embraced, love expressed through sacrifice and the courage to place the lives of others before our own.”
Maj. Gen. Phillip C. Baker recalled learning of the attacks while serving in Kosovo as a young captain flying Apache helicopters. “In an hour and 17 minutes from the first impact to the last impact, our world changed,” Baker said. He said the Sept. 11 attacks shaped military careers, inspired continued service and strengthened national unity.
Baker thanked Fort Rucker firefighters, security personnel and other first responders who protect the installation and its families.
“They do it silently, they do it professionally, and they’re ready to act when that bell goes off,” he said.
The ceremony included the traditional ringing of the bell, three rings, repeated three times, symbolizing the end of a firefighter’s final call. Quattlebaum explained that for 200 years, the bell has marked the beginning and end of shifts, alarms, and, when necessary, the passing of a comrade. “Their task completed, their duties well done… they are going home,” he said.
Following the national anthem sung by Kelly Williams, Ozark Mayor Charlie Ward delivered the keynote address. Speaking as a first responder for more than 50 years, he recalled hearing the first reports of the attacks while driving to a terrorism training session. “The irony struck me,” he said. “There I was, traveling to learn about terrorism while the nation was under attack.”
Ward praised the unity and resilience that emerged in the aftermath and urged attendees to carry that spirit forward. “Thank you for being the light in our community,” he said. “Hope is stronger than fear, and love is stronger than hatred.”
“The men and women lost on 9/11 did not die in vain,” Ward said. “Their sacrifice lives on in the generation of responders who follow them — in the rookie firefighter rushing into a burning home, the young soldier deployed far from home and the trooper stopping to help a stranded family.”
“When the tones drop, when the call comes in, when the crisis arrives, it is you who step forward, not because it is easy, or safe, or glamorous, but because you made a promise,” Ward said.
Participants then completed a 2.33-mile memorial walk in honor of Siller and those killed in the attacks.