BRICK, NJ — Brick Township residents will gather at Windward Beach Park on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The ceremony is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the Angel in Anguish monument at the bottom of the hill at the park on Princeton Avenue.
The ceremony will honor the 2,977 people who died in the attacks when 19 al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four airplanes, flying two into New York City's World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Passengers fought back on the fourth, United Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The remembrance also pays tribute to those who courageously responded during and after the attacks, as well as the men and women who defended our freedom in the years that followed.
Brick's ceremony usually included a bagpipe-and-drums corps, comments from faith leaders in Brick and from elected officials, along with the reading of the names of the eight people from Brick who were killed in the attacks, and the playing of "Taps" by a bugler.
Included among those who died are eight people from Brick Township:
John Badagliacca, 35: He was a bond salesman for Cantor Fitzgerald, according to the 9/11 Living Memorial website. He had two children with his wife, Nancy, whom he met when they were kids, and they owned a summer home in Brick. They were soulmates, she said in his obituary on NJ.com. He loved boating and sports, and was an all-around handyman. "You were the person that everyone wanted to be with. Your humor, your intellect, your craftsmanship was a gift to anyone who came near you. I am grateful that we had so many years together," she wrote on the Cantor Fitzgerald families website.
Brett T. Bailey, 28: He was called "the broker in a wetsuit" in his obituary. He worked for EuroBrokers, but still loved to spend time on and in the water, surfing, swimming and fishing, his family said. He also was quick to help others. Co-workers told his family that Bailey had reached the 71st floor of Tower Two and was helping others when the second tower collapsed. "That's the type of kid he was. He was always taking care of everybody," his mother said. His family created the Brett T. Bailey Foundation, which supports a variety of causes, and the BTB Mako Rodeo, in honor of his love of shark fishing.
Robert P. Devitt Jr., 36: He was a director of purchasing at Cantor Fitzgerald. He was a 1983 graduate of Brick Township High School and lived in Plainsboro at the time of the attacks. He was adventurous and known as the life of the party, playing rugby and doing crazy stunts to keep people entertained, according to Legacy.com. At Kutztown University he was a rugby player, and had been skydiving, motorcycling and kayaking. He loved to play golf and cook for his friends, and loved his job. "There was nowhere else he would rather be," his fiancee said.
Michael David Diehl, 48: He was a vice president with Fiduciary Trust International. He and his wife, Loisanne, were six days shy of their 24th anniversary when he was killed. Their home in Brick was their dream home. He was the grillmaster, according to Legacy.com. "He would park himself in a lawn chair in front of the barbecue with a glass of wine, preparing mouth-watering foods for his family and friends," she said in 2001. "Even in the winter he would don a parka, shovel a path to the grill and sit there like he was on top of the world." On the 9/11 Living Memorial, Lois wrote that Diehl worked in the Trade Center in 1993 when the bomb went off in the garage, and he and three co-workers carried a pregnant woman down 95 stories to safety. "It is rumored that these same four men were last seen on the 44th floor putting people onto elevators to get them out when the Towers came crumbling down on 9/11," she wrote. "I don't know if that is true, but it is what I would like to believe, since we will never know until we meet our Maker."
Jon Anthony Perconti, 32: He was an equities trader at Cantor Fitzgerald. He and his wife, Tammy, had been married for just over a year and were expecting their first child. Julia was born in December, according to Perconti's cousin Sherri Ciarocco, who said he had been overjoyed at becoming a father. He grew up learning how to cook from his grandmother, and as an adult loved to cook for family and friends, and was known for barbecuing on his big green oval grill he called "the Egg" in the back yard or tailgating at New York Giants or Yankees games. "Jon was the type of person who knew what it meant to live life to the fullest. Never taking anything for granted, always being generous and welcoming everyone into his home," she wrote.
James Sands Jr., 38: He was a software engineer in strategic development in the eSpeed Division at Cantor Fitzgerald. His passion, however, was scuba diving, and he and his wife, Jennifer, spent hours diving off the coast of Grand Cayman, and he captured a multitude of moments underwater. "He was an advanced level diver who never missed an opportunity to explore Caribbean marine life and capture its beauty on film," his wife wrote. He was always joyful, always had a smile on his face and cherished the time spent with family, she said. He had land-based pursuits — golfing, biking, music, restaurants, Broadway shows, and the New York Giants — but the water was his favorite place, she said. She spoke about it at length in an interview with Patch in 2021: On 20th Anniversary, 9/11 Widow Jennifer Sands Dives In To Her Journey To Faith
Thomas Sgroi, 45: He worked for Marsh & McLennan, a consulting firm. He had moved to Staten Island from Brick after his divorce, his son told Patch in 2011. "He loved his job," Mike Sgroi said. "For me, and him, it was exciting." But he remained close to his sons and his former wife, Laraine, who told the New York Times that he loved to take photos, do home improvements and loved to throw parties — and was the life of the party. He cherished loyalty and stuck by his family and friends. "Everyone in the family counted on him," she said. "He was the rock."
Christopher Traina, 25. He was a break clerk at Carr Futures. He had decided to pursue commodities after spending a summer working for another company in New York City, and was working toward his goal of becoming a broker, according to the biography written by Meagan Drapkin. He was close to his family and friends, and spent his summer vacation in Cancun, Mexico, just weeks before Sept. 11. Traina loved fishing and boating and just being on the water. He was a huge sports fan and followed the New York Yankees, the Raiders in the NFL, the New Jersey Devils and the Atlanta Hawks. He "found ease and comfort in listening to music," and his favorite bands were Metallica, Soundgarden, and Queensryche, she wrote.
As is traditional, the names of the 2,977 people killed in the 9/11 attacks and six others who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack will be read at a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Manhattan.
Four former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — are expected to attend the 25th-anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.
President Donald Trump is not expected at Ground Zero. Vice President JD Vance will represent the administration in New York.
The ceremony will be livestreamed. On Friday evening, the annual Tribute in Light will send twin beams into the sky, accompanied this year by a one-hour national broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic and ABC News Live.
Trump will attend the 9/11 observance at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the structure
Defense and military leaders traditionally gather for a ceremony centered on the memorial's 184 illuminated benches, one for each victim. Details about public access to the Pentagon ceremony and a possible livestream had not yet been posted on the Pentagon Memorial's official webpage on Tuesday.
The Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, begins with an 8:30 a.m. ceremony that includes the reading of the 40 passengers' and crew members' names, the Bells of Remembrance, and wreath-layings timed to the four attacks.
A second ceremony begins at 1 p.m., and both will be livestreamed. A luminaria ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.
Stephen M. Clark, the superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial, will lead the morning remembrance events. Confirmed speakers at the afternoon ceremony include Gordie Felt, the brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward P. Felt, and Capt. Morrie Wiener (Ret.), the pilot who flew Flight 93 prior to September 2001.
Trump administration officials are expected to attend and lay wreaths on behalf of the federal government, though top executive leaders are split across other national sites.
A 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center's South Tower is being carried across the country by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit created in memory of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed responding to the attacks.
The foundation provides mortgage-free and specially adapted homes to families of fallen or severely injured first responders and military members, assists homeless veterans and supports 9/11 education and remembrance programs. Its 10,500-mile "Steel Across America" tour has taken the beam to more than 35 cities in at least 21 states and will conclude Friday at Ground Zero.
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