A piece of steel honoring the World Trade Center sits at Santa Maria Fire Stations 3 and 5, serving as a lasting reminder of the lives lost during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
On Friday, first responders across Santa Maria paused for a moment of silence to honor those lives and reflect on an event that changed the country.
For Santa Maria Fire Department Deputy Chief Sean Brown, the day also brought back personal memories from his time as a volunteer in New York following the attacks.
“I remember they were doing like money drives to collect for the victims and people were pulling up on the side of the road,” Brown said. “We were outside in our fire gear, and they were handing wads of $100 bills out the window to us into the boot, the fire boot, so that we could then donate to the victims of the tragedy.”
Brown said the response from communities across the country is something he will never forget.
“Never in my career since the late ’90s, when I started in the service, have I seen that kind of patriotism and that kind of unity and just the type of generosity,” Brown said.
That sense of unity is also something community members say they want to carry forward when remembering 9/11.
Santa Maria resident Alice Torres said Sept. 11 is not only a day to remember those who lost their lives, but also the first responders.
“Those people were the best of our patriotism and were real heroes for all of us,” Torres said. “I mean, we have to think about that and hope we can be as courageous as they are.”
For Henry and Veronica Guerrero, remembering 9/11 is also about making sure younger generations understand the significance of the day.
“Celebrating the anniversary of it will keep it alive, and we continue to teach our children, who are young adults now, who were born around that time, that this country and the freedom we have here in the United States is so precious and that we need to keep it alive,” Veronica Guerrero said.
Twenty-five years after the attacks, first responders and community members say the memory of 9/11 and the lives lost that day will never be forgotten.
