LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Sept. 11 is an event those old enough to remember won't ever forget, and we won't forget where we were when we found what was happening.
"I was a city councilwoman," said Mayor Linda Gorton. "I was on the phone with a neighborhood president discussing some city business, when this person said, 'Oh no, we've got to stop talking, go look at the TV.'"
Gorton, who took part in this morning's 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Phoenix Park, had two connections to the attacks. That's another significant part of 9/11; the fact that almost everyone knows at least one person who knew someone who was there, or, sadly, someone who perished.
"At the time, our son was a member of the Old Guard working at Arlington, and they were all re-purposed from doing the burial ceremonies to going to the Pentagon (crash site). They were hopeful of finding survivors," Gorton said. She also has a close friend whose family member was aboard that same plane.
Lexington sent several firefighters to New York in the days after the attacks to assist with search and rescue. None were present at today's service due to social distancing guidelines, but a few active members did come to watch and honor the victims.
"I have a son who is 19 now. He was born four days before this happened," said firefighter Todd Houston. "Things get forgotten, if you don't do ceremonies like this," he added, referring to the generation -- his son's included -- not old enough to remember the events of 9/11.
The rest of us have the images etched into our brains forever, knowing where we were when it happened and the six degrees of separation to a victim.
"I think the connections in our world are such that everybody either knows someone or knows someone who knew someone, so that's why it's even more horrific," Gorton said.
Flags were lowered, and a wreath was placed between the monuments honoring Lexington’s fallen first responders as part of today’s ceremony.
