The Treasure Coast community gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Fort Pierce for a 9/11 remembrance ceremony honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed, first responders, veterans, and others impacted by the attacks.
The ceremony included a wreath-laying to honor Fort Pierce native CeeCee Ross Lyles, a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers. Her final phone call to her husband deeply moved the crowd. "I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you, bye," Lyles said in her last call.
Jerome Sangalli, a United Airlines International Purser AFA-CWA Boston and former union vice-president, described the emotional impact of hearing her words. "I held it together until I heard that phone call. I was just rushed back to when 9/11 happened," Sangalli said.
He also expressed his admiration for the bravery of those aboard Flight 93. "All the flight attendants, all the pilots, they're all angels," Sangalli said.
Dennis McWilliams, who lost four family members on 9/11, shared how his family has used their tragic memories to strengthen their bond. "Our family has taken a stance to use those awful tragic memories at our family reunions, at our weddings, at our funerals to bring ourselves closer to one another," McWilliams said.
The ceremony also carried a message of unity, with local officials calling for the nation to recapture the sense of togetherness felt after the attacks. "I think we should use the memories of 9/11 to unite our country again, to remember those feelings of pride that we had in the immediate aftermath of such a tragic loss," McWilliams said.
"At the end of the day, we need to come back together as we did on that fateful day and months and years after. The United States has to come back together," Fort Pierce Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky said.