Bedford, VA – It’s been 21 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, and people are the country are showing their respect.
Craig Davis remembers the carnage of September 11 all too well.
“When I got there at 4:30 Thursday morning, the fires were still raging 150 feet in the air,” Davis said.
Davis was a ground zero worker helping bring power back to lower Manhattan.
“The towers fell on Tuesday morning, and they shut Manhattan down,” Davis said. “So even our company couldn’t get in to do assistance work.”
He remembers the destruction as he tried to get through the wreckage.
“We were wallowing through all this dust with not even an N-95 filter mask on,” he said. “Nothing but a wet bandana.”
Today, he came to the Bedford Fire Department’s annual wreath-laying event at the D-Day Memorial.
“Without these events, the memory is not alive. Because people will forget,” he said.
The fire department invited people out to show their respect for the lives lost in the attacks and laid a wreath on the memorial in their honor.
Bedford Fire Chief Todd Stone shared the same sentiment.
“It’s something that our firefighters want to be involved in,” Stone said. “Because we never want people to forget 9/11 and the 343 firefighters that were killed that morning.”
9/11 took the city Davis loved away from him.
“I loved the city. I loved the theater, the nightlife, the subway, museums, I loved everything about it,” Davis said. “But after 9/11 I couldn’t go back.”
But he continued to work day after day on ground zero.
“It didn’t stop me. I was going to be helping. I’m still standing, as the saying goes,” Davis said.