Observances recognizing the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were held in several Maine communities including Portland, where a ceremony was conducted at the 9/11 memorial in Fort Allen Park.
Meanwhile, Bangor city officials unfurled a large American flag outside the Central Fire Station where Bangor Fire Chief Thomas Higgins recalled the lives lost during the attacks.
“We’re here this morning to reflect and remember the nearly 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11, 2001,” he said. “Let us never forget those people who died at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and at that grassy open field in Pennsylvania.”
Higgins said that even after 16 years, the 9/11 tragedy continues to impact the lives of first responders everywhere.
“For those of us who work in the fire service, it’s still hard to fathom that on that day, 343 firefighters perished and sacrificed their lives doing what they love to do, and when they went running into buildings that some of them surely knew were going to come tumbling down around them in an effort to try and save people,” he said.
Other Maine observances were held by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Holden Fire Department and the University of Southern Maine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published Sept. 11, 2017 at 6:40 p.m. ET.