{"id":467929,"date":"2026-09-18T13:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467929\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T13:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:16:15","slug":"seal-beach-marks-25-years-after-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467929\/","title":{"rendered":"Seal Beach marks 25 years after 9\/11"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SearchLightTowers-2w.jpg\" data-caption=\"Search lights recreate the Twin Towers at the end of the Seal Beach Pier.\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"436\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SearchLightTowers-2w.jpg\"   alt=\"\" title=\"SearchLightTowers 2w\"\/><\/a>Search lights recreate the Twin Towers at the end of the Seal Beach Pier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seal Beach paused to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. Ceremonies were held at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach and Fire Station 44 in Old Town. The Seal Beach Police Department installed 25 US flags in front of headquarters at 911 Seal Beach Blvd.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fire Station 44 ceremony was put on by Seal Beach City Rotary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Space does not allow for a word for word transcript of the entire ceremony. What follows are highlights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day, the Seal Beach Police Department has installed 25 American flags in front of our police station -one for each year that has passed since that tragic morning,\u201d according to the SBPD Facebook post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor those of us who serve in public safety, we will never forget the first responders who ran toward danger when others were fleeing from it, many making the ultimate sacrifice for people they had never met,\u201d the post said, in part.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SisterChaplainW.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36230\" style=\"width:390px;height:auto\"  \/>Seal Beach PD Chaplain\/Sister Eymard Flood, Councilwoman\/Mayor Lisa Landau, Police Chief Michael Henderson, OC Fire Authority Division 1 Chief Craig Covey, and Grace Community Church Senior Pastor Bob Wriedt at last weeks memorial observance of the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks. Photo by Charles M. Kelly<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Fire Station 44, Sister Eymard Flood, the Seal Beach Police Chaplain, gave the invocation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also speaking at the fire station, District Three Councilwoman\/Mayor Lisa Landau said those present gathered to remember a day that changed the nation forever. \u201cTwenty-five years have passed, but the images, the sorrow, the extraordinary courage that morning remain etched into the heart of America,\u201d Landau said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmerica\u2019s founding was deeply influenced by Christianity and by the Biblical understanding that every human life possesses God\u2014given dignity,\u201d Landau said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Landau said freedom comes from a belief central to our founding: \u201cHuman dignity comes from a power higher than government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Orange County Fire Authority Reserve Academy Cadet Noah Bartleson said he was not old enough to experience September 11th first hand. \u201cBut not having witnessed it does not lessen my responsibility to remember it. In fact, it makes the responsibility even greater,\u201d Bartleson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCourage is choosing to move forward despite fear because someone else needs your help,\u201d Bartleson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the firefighters who responded on 9\/11 showed that no firefighter serves alone. \u201cEvery firefighter must trust the person beside them. Every crew must work as one,\u201d Bartleson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OCFA Division 1 Fire Chief Craig Covey said he just found his replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTwenty-fire years ago today, I was driving on my way\u00a0 to work at Fire Station 57 in Aliso Viejo, and like usual, I was listening to the morning radio program,\u00a0 Kevin and Bean on K Rock,\u201d Covey said. At first, he thought they were joking.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis was the JFK of our generation, right?\u201d Covey asked, referring to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe remember this, and hopefully, we\u2019ll never forget,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost recently, I deployed to the devastating Guadalupe River floods in Texas, looking for all those poor kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd after all those years and all those disasters, I still see something that I want to emphasize tonight: the American spirit is incredible,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen Americans are hurting, other American\u2019s show up. Firefighters show up, police officers show up, every walk of life shows up, and they don\u2019t ask what political party you\u2019re from,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey don\u2019t care what you believe. They ask one question: \u2018How can I help?\u2019\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the firefighters who climbed the stairs of the World Trade Center carried over 70 pounds of equipment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMany of them knew they may not be coming back down,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said 343 firefighters did not come back down from the Twin Towers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He visited Ground Zero. He said construction workers set up an overlook for families of the victims while the search took place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThose wood beams were all covered. It wasn\u2019t graffiti. It was messages of love,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTwenty-five years later maybe one of the most important lessons September 11 can remind us or teach us: We are strongest when we stand together,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Referring to the Flight 93 passengers who fought back against the terrorists, Covey quoted Todd Beamer\u2019s famous words as the passengers prepared to try to take back control of the plane: \u201cLet\u2019s roll.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seal Beach Police Chief Michael Henderson was a trainee in the Carson Station in Los Angeles County the day of the World Trade Center attack. \u201cHaving worked the night before, my wife came in and woke me up, said something terrible was happening, and we watched as the towers fell,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He had been training as a sheriff\u2019s deputy and suddenly the mission had changed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe spent the next several days guarding oil refineries and having serious conversations about how we might have to drive across the country to support our colleagues and partners in New York,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat never came to pass, but law enforcement changed radically after that, and it affected all of us,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said he wanted to get into the fight and see how we could protect the nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He eventually pursued a degree in emergency management with terrorism studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPublic safety depends upon cooperation amongst law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical personnel, government leaders, community organizations, and the residents we serve,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before closing, Henderson asked for a round of applause for the families of first responders. \u201cFor a time, our differences seemed smaller because we understood how much we depended upon one another,\u201d Henderson said.Henderson asked God to protect every first responder and member of the armed forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other speakers included Seal Beach Marine Safety Chief Joe Bailey, Chad Berlinghieri (president of Seal Beach City Rotary), State Sen. Tony Strickland, and Pastor Bob Wriedt of Grace Community Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ceremony concluded with a a walk lit by electric candles to the Salon Meritage Memorial, followed by Chad Berlinghieri performing a reading of the poem \u201cWe Shall Never Forget\u201d by Alan W. Jankowski, and a memorial display of two search light beams reaching to the sky to honor the memory of the Twin Towers and the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Search lights recreate the Twin Towers at the end of the Seal Beach Pier. Seal Beach paused to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-467929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}