PORT ST. LUCIE – Under sunny blue skies, the City of Port St. Lucie held a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Mid-Florida event Center. In a solemn, and sometimes gut-wrenching ceremony, elected officials, first responders and guests paid tribute to the lives lost or forever changed by the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

After a presentation of colors by a multi-agency color guard, the Port St. Lucie High School Chamber Choir recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem.

Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Mayor spoke at the ceremony remembering the date 25 years ago. “It’s hard to believe that a quarter of a century has passed since September 11, 2001. For those of us who have lived through that day, 9/11 will never simply be a date on the calendar. We remember where we were. We remember who we were with. We remember turning on the television screens and trying to comprehend what we were seeing.”

While some in the crowd of over a hundred openly wept throughout the ceremony, others prayed, held hands or placed roses and messages at the Memorial Fountain in honor of those lost.

Captain Solomon Rincon with the St. Lucie County Fire District introduced two firefighters who were about to enact the “ladder climb”. After donning their gear, the firefighters climbed to the top of two extended aerial ladders to honor first responders and others that were lost that day.

Guest speaker Retired New York Police Department (NYPD) First Grade Detective Rafael Diaz talked about his experience during the tragedy. “You drill for every crisis and mentally prepare yourself for the worst. But I can stand before you today and tell you with total honesty, with all my experience with the NYPD, and all my years in the military, absolutely nothing could have prepare me for what I experienced on September 11, 2001.”

Diaz said he had been positioned on the Westside Highway ready to move towards the second tower. “As we proceeded towards the tower, the unthinkable happened. It collapsed right before our eyes. In an instant, the world transformed. I felt like I had been dropped into another country entirely detached from the city I knew so well. The sheer scale of destruction, the suffocating cloud of debris, and above all, the overwhelming terror visible on the faces of every single person around me. It is something that will stay with me forever.”

St. Lucie County Fire District Honor Guard Angel Martinez had the solemn job of ringing the bell, to mark specific tragedies of 9/11.

Typically, the bell is rung at 9/11 ceremonies to mark six moments: when the second plane struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon, when United Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and when each of the Twin Towers fell.

Finally, with flags fluttering in the breeze around them, a multi-agency Honor Guard performed a rifle salute and the St. Lucie County Fire District played taps followed by a mournful rendition of “Amazing Grace.”