By Killian Maree-For the North Star Reporter
On Friday, North Attleborough held two remembrance ceremonies on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The first ceremony was held at the North Attleborough High School football field. As students walked onto the field, they were given cards, each with the name of one of the 2,977 people who lost their lives during the attacks.
Nicole Shum, an NAHS student, gave introductory remarks.
“On that fateful day, we witnessed the resilience of the human spirit,” she said. “First responders and ordinary citizens alike faced unimaginable circumstances with bravery, selflessness and unwavering resolve.”
Following Shum’s remarks, students watched “Boatlift,” a documentary narrated by Tom Hanks that tells the story of the people who volunteered their lives to drive their tugboats to the edge of Manhattan so that people could escape the aftermath of the attacks.
“At this time, 8:46, hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center’s North Tower,” said Shum. “All passengers on board were killed. Please stand for a moment of silence.”
The moment of silence was broken by the “Star-Spangled Banner,” sung by the North Attleborough High School Choir.
As the choir finished their song, Zach Lapointe, another NAHS student, welcomed the morning’s keynote speaker, Glenn Carrano.
Carrano served as a protective security advisor with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, assigned to the Southern and Northern Homeland Security regions, from January 2021 until his retirement in 2024.
Before this, Carrano was a civilian field intelligence officer for the Coast Guard in New York and New Jersey from 2004 to 2020, and lives in North Attleborough.
“We would like to welcome one of the people in charge of the boat lift on September 11, 2001,” said Lapointe.
Carrano began to tell his story, starting with introducing himself and saying that he was a special agent assigned to Battery Park on the day the towers were struck. Carrano was the only one in the office that day, as everyone else there was in training.
“I went outside to assess what was going on. Looking up, I actually saw the people jumping out of the towers, escaping from the heat and fire. Anything was better,” said Carrano.
As Carrano was assessing the situation, the second plane struck the other tower. Carrano said that many of the things that happened in the days following are missing from his memory. He recounted the hysteria of people seeing fighter jets arriving and thinking that more planes were attacking.
“So, my audience today, you weren’t born yet,” he said. “So, I want you to please always remember, never forget, and never again.”
At 9:03 a.m., to commemorate the moment the second plane attacked, another moment of silence was held, broken by “America the Beautiful” sung by the school’s choir. The ceremony at the high school concluded with the students saying the names on the cards they held to acknowledge and commemorate all those who were lost during the attacks.
“It’s very important to count the personal tragedies and understand that each life was connected to so many others,” said Lapointe.
The ceremony then ended with “Amazing Grace,” sung by the choir.
The second ceremony was organized by the North Attleborough Fire Department on the Baptist Common in front of the September 11 Memorial at 11 a.m.
The town gathered to listen to speeches and prayers from North Attleborough Fire Chief Christopher Coleman, Assistant Fire Chief Goerge McKinnon, Town Manager Michael Borg, and state Rep. Adam Scanlon, D-North Attleborough.
Two prayers were read—for the firefighters who died on 9/11, as well as for the oath which firefighters take. A bell was rung to commemorate those that lost their lives on 9/11.
“So today, do you remember? On September 11, we remember,” said Borg