It was a chilly, tranquil Thursday morning when the City of Gainesville held its annual Sept. 11 memorial ceremony, pushing a message of unity.
“I think the significance of a ceremony that’s 24 years later tells us just what the gravity of what occurred on that day really means to all of us,” said Ed Book, District II Commissioner and Emergency Manager at Santa Fe College as he prepared for the ceremony. He’s attended several Sept. 11 remembrance events over the past 24 years.
Sparse groups of attendees gathered throughout City Hall Plaza, finding places to stand in the gentle shade of trees.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward, Fire Rescue Chief Joseph “Shawn” Hillhouse and Police Chief Nelson Moya each delivered speeches, among other government officials.
Throughout most of these speeches there was one major thread shared: unity. Each speech espoused the value of a united community, one which would help each other just as Americans had come together in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I do want to remind us of the blessings that we all received of the togetherness not only of each other, of our people who were in our workplace at the time, or the people who we interacted with over the course of the days and weeks following, but our kinship with the world,” declared Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward in front of dozens of participants and attendees.
Fire Rescue Chief Joseph “Shawn” Hillhouse applauded the efforts of the first responders who sprang into action 24 years ago, making the choice of “duty over safety, compassion over panic, and unity over division.”
In a similar vein, Police Chief Nelson Moya stressed the need to remember those who sacrificed themselves for the good of the United States, whether first responders or civilians, as well as carry on their legacy.
“You see, the reason in my opinion that we remember the very moment, and everything you were doing that entire day, is because you suffered trauma,” Moya said. “And that trauma leaves an impression that never leaves the mind and soul. And what you do with that trauma, do you gather once a year to just recount it? Or do you pay it forward in action?"
In similar fashion to last year’s ceremony, Mayor Ward issued an official proclamation declaring September 11, 2025 as Patriot Day and urged Gainesville residents to care for each other.
Mayor Ward and the rest of the Gainesville city government used the ceremony to encourage Gainesville residents to come together as one shared community.
Mayor Ward finished off the ceremony with a call to action for those who attended that Thursday morning ceremony:
“We are only on the verge of bad things happening when we forget that, when we forget to love our neighbors as ourselves as we are commanded in literally every faith tradition," Ward said. "So my challenge once again is for you to think about what’s next and how we do what’s next together without some tragic event having to happen to bring us all together.”