(Additional photograph below.)
Haverhill paused Friday to remember those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in two ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary.
Under sunny skies, Haverhill High School students filled the courtyard in front of the school for a memorial service conducted by the school’s U.S. Marine Corps Junior ROTC program. In her reflections, speaker Deyanarah Gutierrez, a high school alum, encouraged those in attendance to not just remember, but recognize how the country has recovered in the 25 years since.
“I don’t want to say ‘Don’t forget.’ I want to say, ‘Put yourself in a position that makes you uncomfortable.’ I want you to remember a time that doesn’t belong to you because it doesn’t affect you. It affects us all. When we are reminded of the tragedy before us, we are also reminded of the resiliency and what it can teach us,” Gutierrez said.
Not lost on the speaker is the fact that neither she nor most in her audience had not yet been born on the day of the attacks.
“Today marks 25 years and although time has passed, our hearts still yearn, especially for those of us who were not here to experience that painful time. Please remember that we still have the responsibility to carry the lessons forward,” Gutierrez encouraged.
Haverhill High School Principal Michael J. Downs, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was less sanguine. He recalled the day and his own personal loss and then called on the nation to unite as it had once done following the 9/11 attacks.
“No nation has ever stood or will stand when it is divided. Our enemy is no longer outside of our borders. It is here as we argue and we label and we have forgotten why we are all part of the United States of America. On United 93, one of the passengers said ‘Let’s roll!’ and that became our anthem. Once again, we need to roll again as a nation,” Downs urged.
The ceremony began with Alan Jackson’s evocative song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” and ended with “Taps.” Two moments of silence were observed at 8:46 a.m. and then 9:03 a.m., the times the two aircrafts crashed in the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Public officials attending included Haverhill School Superintendent Margaret Marotta and Haverhill at-large School Committee member Josiah E. Morrow.
At the Haverhill Firefighters Museum, public officials, leading off with Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, read the names and ages of the 414 first responders who lost their lives in the New York City attacks.
Reading the names in addition to Barrett were Haverhill Fire Chief Christopher Cesati; Assistant Fire Chief Eric Tarpy; retired Fire Chief William F. Laliberty and his wife, Elizabeth Laliberty, a member of the museum’s board of directors; Haverhill Fire Capt. Robert Miles; Firefighters John Von Nessen and Taylor Gillette; state Rep. Andy X. Vargas; Thomas L. Mortimer, chief executive officer at Haverhill Bank; Leanne M. Eastman, senior vice president at Pentucket Bank; Taveiry Brito, regional branch manager at Brightbridge Credit Union; Diane Juknavorian, president of the board at HTM Credit Union; Kevin B. Comeau, representing Kevin B. Comeau Funeral Home; Brian Farmer, representing Farmer & Sons Funeral Home; Scott Parechanian, president of Spaulding Brick Company; and Haverhill Police Lt. Kevin Lynch.
Museum President James Graham, a retired Haverhill Firefighter, laid a memorial wreath on the 9/11 monument sculpture outside of the museum. A moment of silence at 9:59 a.m. marked the moment the North Tower collapsed. Lynch played “Taps” and Piper Sean Hughes played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes.
Other public officials attending included Haverhill City Council President Timothy J. Jordan, at- large Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan, Ward 2 Councilor Daniel R. Diodati, Ward 7 Councilor Catherine P. Rogers and Haverhill School Committee Josiah E. Morrow. Also attending was a contingent of students from the Skills USA club at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School.
In a special moment of appreciation, Haverhill and Groveland and Firefighter Michael Jarvis added long stemmed red roses to the steps of the memorial sculpture.
Haverhill Firefighter Taylor Gillette reads some of the names of the 414 first responders who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York City during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary at the Haverhill Firefighters Museum Friday. (WHAV News photograph.)