CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Communities across Southwest Florida came together Thursday to honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, including a moving ceremony in Cape Coral where neighbors gathered to remember, reflect and stand united.
The Cape Coral Fire Department and Police Department participated in Thursday morning's ceremony, which began with a bell ringing at 8:46 a.m. — the exact moment the first World Trade Center building was struck.
One meaningful part of the ceremony involved placing 2,977 American flags around the fountain at City Hall, each bearing the name of someone who died that day. Community members each received a bundle of flags to place, and the overwhelming display drove home the enormity of the loss.
Former FDNY firefighter Dennis McGoldrick has been living in Cape Coral for about three years. He lost eight people in his battalion that day, and being able to honor those people in Cape Coral is almost indescribable, he said.
"It was two years ago, I was placing out flags and I was thinking about the brothers that I had lost and a bundle of flags I had had one of my best friends had Pete Carroll, and I was able to put his flag in the ground and it was heartwarming. I think God had something to do with it," McGoldrick said.
The city first organized this memorial for the 20th anniversary of the attacks, but the community had such a positive response that officials realized how important it was to continue the event every year.
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