Remembering 9/11 Victims From Bridgewater 20 Years Later

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Anyone older than 25 in Bridgewater likely remembers where they were on 9/11.

Americans felt a collective trauma as first one and then another plane flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. As the truth dawned on people watching from their TVs that America was under attack, another plane took aim at the Pentagon. A fourth was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania in a final act of heroism by passengers who realized their flight had been hijacked.

Nearly 3,000 Americans, including four from Bridgewater, were killed in the suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida.

On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, our state remembers and mourns:

• Evan J. Baron, Bridgewater, World Trade Center
• Noel J. Foster, Bridgewater, World Trade Center
• Ronald Tartaro, Bridgewater, World Trade Center
• Lance Richard Tumulty, Bridgewater, World Trade Center

Evan J. Baron, 38 - An energy futures specialist for Carr Future, Baron, 38, traveled around the country a lot, but always found time to spend time with his family. His love for golf never got in the way of his family time with his wife Jeannine and their two children, Ethan and Julia, according to Legacy.

Noel J. Foster, 40 - A vice president with Aon Corporation in the World Trade Center, Foster, 40, lagged behind the rest of those evacuating the building to help his collage with a broken leg get down the stairs. He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Nancy and his daughters, Megan and Nicole, according to Legacy.

Ronald Tartaro, 38 - An executive vice president at Fred Alger Management in the World Trade Center, Tartaro, 39, and his wife Karen were avid tandem bike riders. The couple would often bring their three children along with them on bike rides, according to Legacy.

Lance Richard Tumulty, 32 - A manager of distressed trading operations for Eurobrokers Inc. in the World Trade Center, Tumulty, 32, was captain of the Matawan High School football team before he graduated in 1987. “He was never in a bad mood,” His mother, Diane Tumulty, told the Star Ledger. Tumulty is survived by his wife of seven years, Cynthia and his daughters, Sara and Caroline. Read More: Bridgewater Widow Turns 9/11 Tragedy Into A Positive Lesson

All 9/11 victims will be remembered at memorial services planned across the nation on Sept. 11 to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

Bridgewater Township will host the 20th 9/11 Commemoration and is asking residents for help as they place 2,997 flags in honor of the victims and heroes of the 9/11 attacks. All hands are welcome in this effort, so we ask you to bring friends, family and neighbors. It will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the township municipal building.

At the 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan, New York — an area known for years after the attacks as “Ground Zero” — the names of the fallen will be read aloud.

“Throughout the ceremony, we will observe six moments of silence, acknowledging when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell and the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93,” the 9/11 Memorial & Museum wrote on its website.

The annual “Tribute of Light,” which are lights pointed to the sky in the shape of the Twin Towers, will go on that night.

Most 9/11 victims were from either New York or New Jersey, where many who lived across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center recall the horror of watching the twin towers collapse from their homes in Hoboken and Jersey City.

More than 2,700 people died at the World Trade Center alone on 9/11, including the passengers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. Another 184 were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 44 died on United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.