An American flag flew from the ladders of two firetrucks in front of the Anaheim Convention Center Friday morning, the backdrop to a solemn ceremony paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks attacks 14 years ago.
The event was one of many around Orange County on Friday.
At Orange Lutheran High School, students placed 2,977 flags on the lawns to honor to the 9/11 victims. In south county, about 100 motorcycles joined in the annual 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride from Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon. And throughout the area, firefighters, police, city leaders and community members held ceremonies to memorialize the dead.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by hijacked planes that hit the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania killed 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers. The victims included 343 firefighters, 72 police officers and 37 Port Authority officers.
David Verdecia, a firefighter engineer and paramedic with Anaheim Fire and Rescue, called the day one of “reflection and remembrance.”
“It’s a sobering time to reflect and hope and pray it doesn’t happen again,” said Verdecia, 59, who sang the national anthem.
Another staff writer contributed to this report.
