Reflection, Service, Remembrance Mark 9/11 Ceremony in Parsippany

Morris County freeholders and hundreds of county residents came together for the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on Saturday night.

The remembrance and candlelight prayer service began at 7 p.m. at the Morris County Sept. 11th memorial in Parsippany. The ceremony included speeches, choral music, a 21-gun salute and reading the names of the 64 Morris County residents who died as a result of the attacks nine years ago.

"This ceremony helps remind me of the unity brought about by 9/11," said Adele Black, of Rockaway, whose friend died while trapped in the upper floors of the World Trade Center the morning a pair of planes were flown into the Twin Towers.

Gene Feyl, director of the Morris County freeholders said during his welcome address, "While we mourn for those who were so suddenly taken from us, our goal this evening is to continue to stand together."

Fire fighters from multiple Morris County towns lined the road outside the ceremony. One fire engine had a massive American flag hanging from its ladder just above the memorial. 

Joe Garifo, public information director for Morris County indicated that not only Morris County firefighters responded to the World Trade Center on that fateful day but that paramedics and other emergency response workers from the county also helped.

Other affected have taken the events from 9/11 and have applied them to life going forward. Black has begun to develop a curriculum that will be used to teach middle school students about the tragic events, emphasizing the unity and courage it brought about in people with conflicting ideologies from all walks of life, she said.

Charles McKenna, director of the New Jersey office of Homeland Security, speaking on behalf of Gov. Chris Christie who was not in attendance, announced his proclamation of a patriot day to be held on Sept. 11, "a national day of service and remembrance in New Jersey."