Middletown Renews Promise Never to Forget Victims of 9/11

8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. The exact moment that our world changed.

We've all heard the accounts. Some of us even saw it first hand. The Twin Towers were cast against a beautiful, sunny September sky as men and women went about their business. Cars drove down the street; trains made their regular stops; people rode the elevators to their offices.

Then the clock struck 8:46 a.m. and an airplane crashed into the North Tower.

Black smoked billowed into the sky. Confusion set in. An accident?

Then the clock struck 9:03 a.m. and a second plane struck the South Tower. It was not an accident; it was an attack on American soil. It was something that for so long seemed impossible, far-fetched, from a movie.

But there it was. There were two towers, two towers that characterized the New York City skyline, that were once the World Trade Center, burning black against a blue sky.

And that wasn't the end. Next, a plane hit the Pentagon, followed by a plane crashing into a Pennsylvania field as passengers attempted to fight the hijackers.

In just a few moments, Middletown lost 37 residents: Lorraine D. Antigua, Jane S. Beatty, Donna Bernaerts-Kearns, Alfred J. Braca, Ronald M. Breitweiser, Patrick J. Buhse, Stephen J. Cangialosi, Swede Joseph Chevalier, Dolores Marie Costa, Edward Desimone III, Michael Egan, David Ferrugio, Daniel J. Gallagher, John M. Grazioso, Felicia Hamilton, Patrick A. Hoey, Kathleen A. Hunt Casey, Brendan Mark Lang, Roseanne P. Lang, Anna A. Laverty, Michael Patrick McDonnell, Peter T. Milano and Louis J. Minervino, Justin John Molisani, Jr., James Thomas Murphy, Christopher Newton-Carter, Paul R. Nimbley, Robert Emmett Parks, Jr., Nicholas P. Pietrunti, John M. Pocher, Beth Ann Quigley, Gregg Reidy, Robert Andrew Spencer, Dick Stadelberger, Kenneth Tietjen, Anthony Ventura, and Rodney James Wotton. 

America made a promise that day never to forget. Twelve years later, Middletown continues holding true to that promise. On Sept. 11, 2013, another sunny, September morning, over 100 people gathered at the World Trade Center Memorial Gardens on Church Street in Middletown to quietly reflect and remember at the exact time the first plane hit.

Wreaths were laid around a sign that read "We will never forget" and observers bowed their heads in silence. After a few minutes, everyone filed through the arch and walked slowly through the WTC Memorial Garden, pausing to read the 37 memorial stones engraved for each local victim of Sept. 11. Flowers were laid, tears were shed and the promise to always remember was renewed.

The Memorial Gardens were created by the Middletown World Trade Center Memorial Committee, a non-profit group consisting of the victim's family members and township residents. Construction of the memorial, which was completed in 2003, was made possible largely through donations.

The Memorial Gardens continue to be maintained by the Middletown WTC Memorial Committee in partnership with Middletown Township.

View a brief video of Wednesday's ceremony here.

Read about Detective Lt. Joseph Capriotti, the keeper of Middletown's victim list, here.