The tolling of bells and moments of silence marked Gainesville’s annual 9/11 memorial ceremony Thursday morning, as city leaders and residents gathered in solidarity at City Hall Plaza in honor of the lives lost 24 years ago.
Communities across the country gathered throughout the day to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks. About 100 Gainesville locals attended the city’s National Day of Service and Remembrance ceremony.
After Mayor Harvey Ward welcomed the audience, the Rev. Graham Glover, senior pastor at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church and School, delivered a blessing for those who died.
“Here we are in 2025, and still, this day affects us. It has changed who we are as a nation, as a people. But no matter what happened on that day, my prayer this day is that we lift up our voice to the creator of this world … and that we find comfort even in the midst of constant violence which happened on Sept. 11,” Glover said.
At 8:46 a.m., the exact time the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center in 2001, ceremony attendees bowed their heads in silence and listened as local houses of worship rang their bells.
Following the moment of silence, Sgt. Maj. Patricia McCullough came up to the podium.
McCullough, a UF graduate who served 25 years in the Marine Corps, urged the crowd to honor the role of young Americans in shaping the future after Sept. 11, 2001.
“Today, as we remember 9/11, let's not only honor the fallen and the ones that went into danger, survivors, supporting our veterans,” McCullough said. “Let’s invest in our young people and make sure that the history of the sacrifice and courage is always heard on this day.”
She addressed the current generation of students who were not alive during the tragedy.
“For them, it is history. That means it’s up to us who lived, who served through it, who carried the weight of that day, to pass on the story with courage and with heart,” said McCullough, who had been recently promoted to sergeant major on Sept. 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks sent her to Afghanistan, where she worked to make sure her marines were cared for and would return home safely.
Mayor Ward then challenged the audience to find moments of togetherness and unity, highlighting that these moments should not arise from tragedy alone.
A second moment of silence came at 9:03 a.m., marking the time the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
Next, Gainesville City Commissioner Ed Book offered his experiences on Sept. 11, 2001. He was in a meeting when he learned a plane hit one of the twin towers. He thought it was an “unusual” accident at first, but he had a feeling something bigger was happening and cut the meeting short.
“That memory is just as vivid today,” Book said.
Though Gainesville is about 1,000 miles from New York, the ceremony was still personal for those in attendance.
“I had relatives that lost relatives,” said Ann DeHart, a 78-year-old Gainesville resident. “We didn’t lose anybody ourselves, but it was a horrible, horrible, horrible day.”
Her husband, Gregory DeHart, said when the couple lived in south Florida, he saw planes fly overhead every day during his work commute. The 76-year-old said he didn’t see a single plane on Sept. 11, 2001.
“It was the weirdest thing,” Gregory said.
The couple, who lived near the Homestead Air Reserve Base in Miami-Dade County, said they were scared the planes moving south would come to Homestead.
“We were on lockdown until 1 in the afternoon, and everybody just cried because we didn’t know anything else to do,” Ann said.
David Gray Rawls Jr., a 68-year-old Gainesville resident, recalled his initial reaction to the tragedy.
“I was just watching TV like it wasn’t a special day, until I saw something,” Rawls said. “And then when I paid attention, things just got worse.”
The ceremony concluded with a proclamation by Ward declaring Sept. 11, 2025, as Patriot Day in Gainesville.
“Join me in serving this day with acts of kindness, generosity and service to honor the victims of the worst terrorist attack on American soil,” Ward said.
In an affirmation to the public on behalf of the city police officers and firefighters, police Chief Nelson Moya said, “To the rest of us, as we sit here, gather … Here’s my challenge to you: Change nothing. Live your lives, serve democracy, because we have your back.”
Constantine Varlamos is a contributing writer for The Alligator. Contact him at cvarlamos@ufl.edu.
