OSWEGO, N.Y. — The City of Oswego held a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony on Friday morning.

The ceremony honored the nearly 3,000 Americans killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Friday marked 25 years since the attacks.

Retired Oswego Fire Captain Mike Cutro said if you’re old enough, you remember where you were on Sept. 11, 2001. He said that at the time, he was a recently appointed lieutenant. He was in New York City attending training with firefighters from departments in NYC and across New York State.

“Once we attended class that morning, everything changed,” said Cutro. “An FDNY firefighter entered the room and told our battalion chief that a plane and just hit the towers. The battalion chief just turned on the TV in the classroom and we watched as the second plane hit. I’ll never forget looking at him as he looked back at the class and said, ‘This is no accident.'”

Cutro said they grabbed their gear and headed toward the World Trade Center. He recalled the devastation he saw.

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“The dust and debris had darkened,” said Cutro. “We parked the trucks and the van and started hiking towards the pile through the debris a little bit more than a mile in full bunker gear. Then the unthinkable happened; the north tower came down.”

Cutro said they worked at Ground Zero for five days. He said, “I never worked so hard in my life.”

Oswego Mayor Robert Corradino said it was hard to believe that the day was a quarter-century ago.

“On Sept. 11, 2001, our country endured an unimaginable tragedy. Four airplanes were hijacked and used as weapons, taking the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people,” said Corradino. “In the span of a few hours, families were shattered, communities were shaken and the course of our history was changed forever.”

Corradino said it’s resilience that continues to carry Americans forward. He said Oswego felt the impact of the attacks even though the city is miles away from the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, as well as where the hijacked United 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

At 6:30 a.m., officials held the Silent Sunrise Procession. It featured emergency vehicles from area fire departments, law enforcement and emergency medical services. The procession was “silent” as emergency lights were activated, but sirens were not on.