Never Forget: Ocean County Set To Mark 14th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks

As the nation marks the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Friday with ceremonies in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, local officials will offer an opportunity for residents to do the same.

Of the more than 700 New Jersey residents killed in the attacks, at least 21 had ties to Ocean County.

Ocean County will honor the memories of those 21 and the other nearly 3,000 people killed that day at its Annual Day of Remembrance. The ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the county’s Sept. 11 Memorial in the courtyard by the county buildings at 129 Hooper Ave.

Toms River will have a remembrance ceremony at 9:30 a.m., led by Toms River Fire Company 1, at the Fireman’s Statue on the corner of Washington and Robbins streets.

Berkeley Township residents are welcome to attend the township’s annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Sept. 11, at the 9-11 Memorial in Veterans Park, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said.

Cub Scout Pack 27 and Boy Scouts from Troop 76 and 85 will conduct the short ceremony, along with township officials, Berkeley police and emergency services personnel, the mayor said.

The Berkeley 9-11 memorial consists of three sections - one for the World Trade Center attacks, one for hijacked Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Shanksville, PA, and one for the Pentagon attacks.

The memorial also has a piece of World Trade Center steel embedded in the ground. Holiday Heights residents Tom and Joann Meehan were instrumental in procuring the steel for the township. They lost their daughter Colleen, 26, on Sept. 11, 2001. Colleen worked on the 103 floor of the North Tower.

The township will also hold a short remembrance ceremony at the upcoming Berkeley Community Pride Day on Saturday at Veterans Park, Amato said.

Brick Township will have its Remembrance Ceremony and Candlelight Vigil at Windward Beach Park at the Angel in Anguish statue. That service begins at 6 p.m.

The Ocean County victims, compiled from several sources, include:

• John Badagliacca, of Brick and Staten Island.
• Brett T. Bailey of Brick
• Christopher S. Cramer of Manahawkin
• John Robert Cruz of Jersey City, formerly of Lakewood
• Robert P. Devitt Jr. of Plainsboro, a 1983 graduate of Brick Township High School
• Michael D. Diehl of Brick
• Patrick Joseph Driscoll of Point Pleasant Beach
• Patricia M. Fagan of Toms River
• Harvey J. Gardner III of Lakewood
• William H. Kelly Jr. of Long Beach Township
• Robert C. “Bob” Kennedy of Toms River
• Joseph Mangano of Jackson
• Fred Morrone of Lakewood
• Edward K. Oliver of Jackson
• Jon A. Perconti of Brick
• Susan M. Pollio of Long Beach Township
• James Sands Jr. of Brick
• Raphael “Ralph” Scorca of Beachwood
• Thomas Sgroi of Brick
• Catherine Smith of Long Beach Township
• Christopher M. Traina of Brick