Syracuse firefighters and officials remember the events of September 11, 2001 on the 23rd anniversary

Mayor Ben Walsh and the Syracuse Fire Department hosted the city's annual remembrance ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The service began with opening remarks at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Fayette Firefighters Park in the 400 block of East Genesee Street in downtown Syracuse.

During the service, those present observed a 17-minute break, corresponding to the time between the impact of the first and second passenger plane into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York on the morning of September 11, 2001.

During the ceremony, Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley recalled events that occurred while he served as the rescue chief of the 174th Attack Wing at Hancock Air National Guard Base in Mattydale.

The unit received the call that morning of “THREATCON DELTA,” something they had never heard before, Shelley said. They then alerted the F-16s stationed there to protect the skies. During the 17 minutes of silence, the pained look on the sheriff's face showed how much that day was still weighing on him.

Holly Grant held her husband Lenny's arm during the memorial service, standing among several dozen others. It was Holly's birthday, and she was living in New York City on the morning of the attack. She and her husband received a call from a friend telling them to turn on the news to see what was going on. That friend's brother, Eric Olson, was a firefighter and died minutes later when the towers collapsed. They mourned the loss of their friend's brother with their son Henry, who was born 15 years after the attack.