Seaside Police Department commemorates the 20th anniversary of 9/11
SEASIDE, Calif. (KION) On Saturday morning, the Seaside Police Department held an event observing the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Several county and city officials such as Supervisor Wendy Askew and Seaside Mayor Ian Ogelsby were present at the event.
A somber moment of silence marked the exact moment, 8:46 a.m., when American Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center North Tower 20 years ago.
"Today, we stand together as a community to honor all those that lost their lives years and many who have died in the day and years that followed,” said Mary Gutierrez, Seaside Fire Chief.
KION spoke with one Bay Area who worked Ground Zero after the Twin Towers collapsed providing aid and services to first responders and workers trying to locate missing people amongst all the rubble.
"Every day I would pass by—there were barricades— and we always stopped and we just looked and to see the pile of rubble every day and know a week before it was a tall, proud building with thousands of people in there going about their everyday lives and it was gone forever," said Diane St. Denis, nurse.
In the midst of all the ruin and despair, volunteers and first responders never lost sight of their mission, working tirelessly in hopes of one-day reuniting families with their loved ones.
“When you saw the rubble, you knew how it was burning underneath, you knew how hot it was, and in the back of your mind you knew that they weren’t going to find any more survivors, but there was always hope," said Denis.
For Denis, her time at Ground Zero was a reminder that life is fleeting.
"Tomorrow isn't promised. You know, those people went to work thinking they would come home at night and eat dinner with their families and hug their kids and their wives and their sons, their daughters, their parents, whatever. And in a heartbeat, it can be taken away," said Denis.
After three months of working at Ground Zero, she never returned to the site, but in 2012, she was able to visit for the first time since the immediate aftermath.
