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CHAPPAQUA, N.Y.On September 11, 2001, thousands of brave firefighters arrived at the World Trade Center to do whatever they could to help. Now, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, legions of first responders will be turned away from the ceremonies at Ground Zero.
We were first responders, but from our perspective, its a logistical nightmare, said Russell Maitland, assistant fire chief for the Chappaqua Fire Department. If we send guys there, were stripping the town.
Locally, there will be a Westchester County memorial ceremony at The Rising located in the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. There will also be a memorial dedication ceremony on Main Street in Mount Kisco, a memorial funded and built by the Mount Kisco Volunteer Fire Department.
In New Castle, there will be a ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Gedney Park, where its memorial is located.
We do a Westchester memorial in Valhalla and in the town of New Castle we do one at Gedney Park, Maitland said. Mount Kisco has a memorial dedication ceremony too. Were going to participate in the Mount Kisco and New Castle memorial ceremonies.
Maitland can understand why first responders are not allowed at the ceremony at Ground Zero.
I dont know if were as affected by it as they are in the city, Maitland said. Thats their memorial, we have memorials up here. We have some of our own. I dont know if we would have participated in that anyway.
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