Ceremony at California 9/11 Memorial remembers victims of terror attacks
CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Wednesday marks 23 years since thousands were killed in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in terror attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Wednesday morning, a special ceremony in Clovis honored the victim's families and the first responders who rushed in to help.
At exactly 8:46 am, the time the first plane hit the North World Trade Center Tower, audio from radio traffic that day played.
The flag was then lowered.
The crowd was filled with people who can recount where they were on that somber morning and those who only know it as history.
I felt that it was important for our children to remember what I remember when I was young. I was a young child, they weren't alive when this happened, just to remind them of our country, things that we stand for," said Elisha Wood.
The ceremony and the memorial itself pays tribute to the lives lost at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the lives lost after brave passengers took Flight 93 back from the hijackers and brought it down in a field in Pennsylvania.
"When you see how many people attended today, I think that's a clear demonstration of how proud we are in the Valley of this memorial," said Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer about Wednesday's event.
This year's guest speaker is former NFL player George Martin.
He played for the New York Giants at the time and he says he had a front-row seat for the impact of the attacks.
"When I lost someone, that made it personal. And as a result of that I wanted to make sure I did something to give back to make awareness that it's bigger than we think and it should be addressed," said Martin.
He began his 'Journey for 9/11,' a cross-country walk from New York to San Diego, to raise millions of dollars for medical care for the first responders who worked at Ground Zero.
Their heroism and the American pride felt from coast to coast inspired him.
"Everybody showed up. They sold out of flags, the patriotism was at an all-time high. It reverberated for a while," recalled Martin.
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