BETHESDA, Md. – Staff, service members and guests gathered at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sept. 11 for the 9/11 25th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, in addition to the thousands who later died as a result of 9/11-related illnesses.
U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Lorenzo Watts, a chief petty officer selectee, served as master of ceremonies.
"Whether you were serving, were inspired to serve afterwards, or simply remember where you were that day, the events of 9/11 are forever etched in our memories," Watts said. "It is important that we continue to remember and honor those affected, as we will never forget."
The ceremony opened with a joint service color guard and an invocation by hospital chaplain U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Jackson, followed by a reading of the morning's timeline, with a bell tolled after each event and the response, "We will never forget."
Retired Raleigh, N.C., Fire Department Capt. John "Woody" Woodall, who served as North Carolina's liaison to New York after the attacks and arrived at Ground Zero four days later, delivered the keynote remarks.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life and never want to see anything like it again," Woodall said.
He recalled New York City Fire Department Capt. Patrick "Paddy" Brown, who was ordered out of the North Tower and refused.
"He said, 'I refuse that order. We've got people up here that need us here. We're staying,'" Woodall said. "That was the last transmission he made before the building collapsed."
U.S. Navy Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Sean Cather, who attended the ceremony, said Brown's story stayed with him.
"It takes a lot of bravery to be able to stay when you know it's going to be hard, but that's what it takes, doing the hard things for one another," Cather said. "It has been 25 years, but the remembrance of this, we need to continue it because we will never forget."
Following the remarks, the fiscal year 2027 chief petty officer selectees presented a memorial wreath in honor of the fallen, as they do every year.
The ceremony closed with Taps, a benediction and a moment of silence.