Seguin community invited to remember lives lost

(Seguin) — Seguin Police Chief Jason Brady still remembers exactly where he was on September 11, 2001 — a young officer watching a tragedy that, as he describes, “literally seemed like the whole world had changed.”

Now, Brady is inviting the community to join the Seguin Police Department this Thursday in honoring the lives lost and the heroes who 24 years ago answered the call on that day.

On behalf of the city of Seguin and the Seguin Fire Department, the Seguin Police Department is extending an invitation to its special remembrance ceremony marking the anniversary of 9/11. The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11 outside the Seguin Police Department,

Chief Brady says the day continues to hold deep meaning for him and countless others who lived through the attacks.

“For our generation, this is our Pearl Harbor if you will. But even more than that, Pearl Harbor was a military target. Here, you have a massive attack on the civilian population, and it really involved all the resources of New York City, including of course, the fire and police and other first responders. I was a police officer when that happened and so for us, it’s a very significant day and at the time — you were around — it literally seemed like the whole world had changed and we said, ‘We would never forget’ and the Seguin Police Department, the Seguin Fire Department and the Seguin community, we mean that. We are not going to forget and that’s the purpose of having these ceremonies to remind people that this happened. Thousands of individuals lost their lives. First responders lost their lives. Americans lost their lives not to mention the larger global war on terror which took many more lives. So, we are never going to forget,” said Brady.

Chief Brady says the ceremony is also about making sure future generations understand the impact of the attacks.

“I’m going to make sure that new generations of officers and fire fighters which by the way – now, it has been enough time passed that we have officers that were even infants or not even born when this happened. So, we like to take some time – it’s not a grand or lengthy ceremony but we want to make sure each year to take turns with the fire department to host this event and we just have a short somber and hopefully, an appropriate memorial or ceremony just recognizing that tragic event,” said Brady.

On that day in history, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes, crashing two into New York City’s World Trade Center towers and another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth plane, United Flight 93, went down in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in what remains the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

The Seguin Police Department is located 350 N. Guadalupe St.