Ankeny Remembers: 9/11 Memorial Held at Fire Station

The crowd that gathered Tuesday morning at Ankeny Fire Department’s station No. 1 included about 40 people from several different employers, communities and age groups. But they were all there for a single purpose: to remember Sept. 11, 2001.

The remembrance ceremony included remarks from Fire Chief Rex Mundt, Mayor Steven Van Oort and Department Chaplain Dennis Liberty. 

“We get so darn busy, but we have to stop and thank the people who risk their lives daily,” attendee Dave Campbell said. He and 15 coworkers from Springer Professional Home Services drove to the event from their office in Des Moines.

Mayor Van Oort led a round of applause for the public servants of the community, gesturing toward the row of firefighters beside him and reminding the audience that, “Every day they answer the call even when they don’t know the outcome.”

The event also included a moment of silence preceded by the ringing of a bell. Deputy Fire Chief Rob Chiappano explained that the two sets of five measured-tones symbolized the telegraph signal that was historically used to indicate a firefighter had been killed in the line of duty.

Campbell, whose father was a volunteer firefighter in Rockwell, said he found that part of the ceremony moving. “It’s so small, but so somber, like playing ‘Taps’ at a military funeral,” he said.

His fellow Springer employee, Denise Parker of Altoona, also comes from a family of public servants, with 12 relatives who are firefighters and three who are police officers. For her, Sept. 11 conjures up a lot of emotions, she said.

“I don’t think anybody should forget stuff like this,” she said. “Yes, you have to move one. But you can never forget about it.”