Retired New York Police Department lieutenant Kevin Lynch remembers quite clearly where he was on Sept. 11, 2001, and shared his initial memory of the twin tower attacks at Peace Arch border crossing in South Surrey Friday, where hundreds of Canadian and American dignitaries, first responders, military and border personnel gathered for a 25th anniversary Northwest 9/11 memorial ceremony.

Lynch had been hired as a police officer in 1999, so he was still fairly new, working bicycle patrol in downtown Brooklyn, which is just across the East River from the World Trade Centre.

“I remember hearing it come over on my police radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center and, like a lot of people, I thought it was a Cessna and someone had gotten lost,” he shared with the gathered crowd Friday (Sept. 11), recalling ho no one really knew what was happening at first.

“I biked over to an area called the promenade that overlooked the financial district the first tower was burning, and there were probably 200 people and I just got swept up like everyone else … I just stood there and was watching, and a man said, ‘Oh that plane over there is low as well,” and we watched the second plane fly in and … it was such an explosion, that I thought it was fake. The first thing I said was, ‘That looks like a scene from Lethal Weapon. It just — the fireball … I probably stayed there for another 30 seconds,” he recalled.

Then he remember that his wife was going to bring their son, who had been born in May of 2001, into the city that day for the first time.

“I called her at my father’s apartment. I said, ‘Don’t go anywhere.’ There was no cell service, so I pulled the ‘This is a police emergency, sir get off the phone!’ and I just grabbed (a payphone) from some poor man … nobody knew what was going on. Then I realized, ‘I’m a police officer and I probably should be doing something,’ and I biked over to a bridge that connects lower Manhattan to Brooklyn, and assisted in the evacuation of thousands of people.”

Lynch — who was one of four New York City first responders who were at the World Trade Centre on Sept. 1, 2001 at the memorial — said it is more important than ever to remember those who ran toward danger, rather than from it, on that fateful day, especially now that there’s a new generation with no memory of where they were on that day.

“It’s incredibly important to remember, first of all, but also to to share … in the face of something so horrible on September 11th, I hope that we can be as we were on September 12th, which was amazing, the outpouring from all corners,” Lynch said.

“I’m also a native New Yorker, and to receive the good wishes of everybody here — that’s what’s been really special. In (the) world that we live in today, where there’s a tremendous amount of strife domestically, foreign, everywhere … to come here and just feel all the warmth from everybody is incredibly healing, and I’m just honoured that I was asked to come out here. It’s been an honour to be standing amongst these people.”

An annual gathering since 2001, both Canadians and Americans have come together at the international boundary to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, and to honour the courage of those who responded.

In addition to Lynch, retired NYPD Sgt. Marna Rann, retired Fire Department of New York paramedic Roberto Abril, and former FDNY firefighter Cody Stamberger were honoured at the gathering, as all were serving in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

Organized each year by Guy Morall, in conjunction with the 9/11 Memorial Ride motorcycle and vehicle procession to the Peace Arch, the event also featured members of military and other uniformed service members, along with municipal, state, provincial and federal dignitaries, including Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, Delta Mayor George Harvie, Blaine Mayor Mary Lou Steward, B.C. Lieutenant Governor Wendy Cocchia, and U.S. Consul General Shawn Crowley among others.

Semiahmoo First Nation Chief Harley Chappell, along with councillors Jennine Cook and Joanne Charles, offered a welcome to the traditional territory of the Semiahmoo people, which includes land on both sides of the international boundary; while White Rock councillors Susan Bains and Anthony Manning were among those watching the ceremony.

The event also featured U.S. and Canadian flags flown between the raised ladders of firetrucks from both sides of the border and a helicopter flypast by U.S. Homeland Security, the singing of the Canadian and U.S. national anthems by the Van City Chorus, led by Donny Rose and the stirring sounds of the Surrey Police Service Pipe Band.

Many dignitaries spoke at the event – coordinated and introduced by organizer Howard Blank – sharing their memories of where they were 25 years ago, and of the importance of remembering lest history repeat itself.

Many other common themes emerged – among them that close ties endure between first responders in both the U.S. and Canada and that they will continue to endure, despite the winds of political change.

And while the close to 3,000 who lost their lives in the attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre twin towers, at the Pentagon and in the crash of United Flight 93 near Shanksville, Penn, were remembered – speakers paid special tribute to the many first responders, who, typically, rather than running away from the horrific scenes, ran towards them to help save victims in peril.

Some were among the death toll that day (Abril tearfully remembered his colleague and friend Carlos Lillo who lost his life at Ground Zero) while others continued to serve for years afterwards, while bearing both emotional and physical scars of the event – including life-shortening conditions.

Canadians, it was remarked, were among those who volunteered to help at Ground Zero – and also did not hesitate to offer refuge for Americans who could not return home because their flights could note enter U.S. airspace for days after the attacks.

“Our friends were hurting,” Delta Mayor Harvey said.

Canadians were there for them, he added.

“(Now), 25 years later, we are still standing shoulder to shoulder.”

Lieutenant-Governor Cocchia reminded those attending of the words inscribed on the Peace Arch: “may these gates never be closed” and “children of a common mother” – noting they pay tribute to “two amazing countries” characterized by “friendship, trust and shared responsibility.”

Consul General Crowley, noting that 2026 marks the 165th year of a U.S. consulate in B.C., underlined the “ties between our people”.

“Whatever our differences may be, we are there for each other when it matters the most,” he said.

Locke said the Peace Arch remains “a powerful symbol,” despite challenges in recent years, “to remind us of what is truly important.”

“We are connected not just by geography, but by shared values,” she said.

Blaine Mayor Steward noted the immediate international support for the U.S. following the “first attack on American soil since Pearl Harbour”.

“Other members of the NATO alliance were phoning to offer their help,” she remembered.

“There will always be challenges for those of us on this planet,” she said, adding that there is a need for everyone to “come together in strength to find solutions – to work together with our faults and all.

“We owe it to our children and grandchildren to put all our energy into (this)”.