‘There was so much courage’: 9/11 ceremony in Lincoln honors those who died

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – On Monday morning, Lincoln remembered the thousands of lives lost on 9/11 with a special Patriot Day ceremony.

It took place on the north steps of the Nebraska State Capitol.

The event included a 21-gun salute by the Lincoln Police Department and a flag-raising ceremony by Lincoln Fire & Rescue and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Honor Guard.

Both LPD acting Chief Michon Morrow and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird gave remarks, remembering the first responders and citizens lost.

“We bore witness that day to the fact that true superheroes are not those whom we watch on the silver screen, but are those Americans among us who rise to meet an extraordinary moment,” Gaylor Baird said.

Morrow played audio from the morning of the attacks and said over 400 first responders died that day.

“Among the chaos and the carnage, there was something more to that day,” she said. “There was so much courage. There was so much compassion. There was so much sacrifice.”

LFR Chief David Engler said despite that happening in New York, the attacks affected emergency responders across the country.

“It’s good to remind not only our personnel, but the public, of what it really means to be a public safety official and to have a safe community like Lincoln,” he said.

Members of Lincoln’s Veterans Memorial Garden also read the names on Nebraska’s monument to fallen soldiers in post-9/11 wars, as well as several Nebraska veterans who have died since that day.

Not counting the terrorists, 2,977 people were killed in the attacks, including 343 firefighters at the World Trade Center.

Since then, 341 New York Fire Department employees have died from related illnesses, according to CNN.