9/11 Day Of Remembrance Ceremony Set At Ocean County Offices

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Ocean County will mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with ceremonies on Friday morning.

The county's annual Day of Remembrance Ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Friday at the Ocean County September 11 Monument in the plaza near 129 Hooper Ave. in Toms River.

"While 20 years may have passed since the devastating attack on America, we have never forgotten the lives that were lost, the loved ones that continue to mourn, the heroic and selfless acts of our first responders," said Gary Quinn, director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners.

There were 2,996 people killed in the 9/11 attacks, including 19 people from Ocean County. (See their names below.)

At the World Trade Center, 2,763 died, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers, according to History.com. At the Pentagon, 189 people were killed, including 64 on American Airlines Flight 77, the airliner that struck the building. On United Flight 93, 44 people died when the passengers who realized the plane had been hijacked plane caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania before it could reach its intended target.

"Ocean County lost 19 residents that day and countless others with connections to the County," Quinn said. "They were loved ones, moms, dads, brothers and sisters who went to work that morning like any other day, but they never returned home. Our hearts still break for them."

The Toms River Municipal Band, under the direction of Frank Hughes, will perform before the ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m. and will perform musical selections during the ceremony.

Quinn and other members of the Board of Commissioners, along with Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer, will place wreaths at the Sept. 11 Monument and at the War on Terror Monument, which honors members of the military from Ocean County who died in the war. That monument also is in the plaza between the prosecutor's office and county offices.

"On this day we remember the service personnel from Ocean County that made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our freedoms during the ongoing War on Terror," Quinn said.

In addition to the Day of Remembrance services, the Ocean County Library has a page on its website dedicated to Sept. 11.

In addition to resources and information about the Sept. 11 attacks, the library is hosting a poster exhibit titled, "September 11, 2001: the Day that Changed the World." The exhibit, developed by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum for public library display, includes 14 posters of information photographs and images of artifacts from the museum's collection.

"It explores the consequences of terrorism on individual lives and communities at the local, national, and international levels, and encourages critical thinking about the legacies of 9/11," the library says.

The poster exhibit will be on display for the month of September 2021 at the following branches of the Ocean County Library: Barnegat, Berkeley, Jackson, Lacey, Lakewood, Little Egg Harbor, Manchester, Point Pleasant Beach, Stafford, Upper Shores (Lavallette) and the main branch in Toms River.

There is a host of 9/11 events through the library system in September, including the story of a survivor and more, on the library's website.

Here are the Ocean County victims of the Sept. 11 attacks:

BEACH HAVEN
Susan M. Pollio

BEACHWOOD
John Roger Fisher
Raphael Scorca

BRICK
John James Badagliacca
Brett T. Bailey
Robert P. Devitt Jr
Michael David Diehl
Jon A. Perconti Jr.
James "Jim" Sands Jr.
Thomas Sgroi
Christopher M. Traina

JACKSON
Joseph Mangano
Edward K. Oliver

LAKEWOOD
Harvey Joseph Gardner III
Ferdinand "Fred" V. Marrone

MANAHAWKIN
Christopher S. Cramer

POINT PLEASANT BEACH
Patrick Joseph Driscoll

TOMS RIVER
Patricia Mary Fagan
Robert C. Kennedy

WARETOWN
Peter Paul Apollo

Click here to get Patch email notifications, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.