9/11 Memorial Ceremony, Great Barrington Fire Department, September 11, 2025

Good morning, friends, neighbors, and heroes,

We gather here today to honor and remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001.

Thank you to the Town of Great Barrington, to the Great Barrington Fire Department, to our Selectboard members and town staff, and to the first responders gathered here today.

And a special thank you to the American Legion Post 298 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8183 for ensuring this day is always remembered and commemorated.

On September 11, 2001, two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven people lost their lives in multiple terrorist attacks. Twenty-four years later, the images remain vivid: the towers falling, the smoke rising, people running. The quiet courage of ordinary people stepping into extraordinary roles.

Everyone remembers where they were that day.

For me, I had just returned from maternity leave after the birth of my first child, Sean, and was teaching at a university in Ireland. In the middle of class, a student walked in and said, “Something is happening in America—you may want to see.”

So I took my class to the pub — the place where people gathered in Ireland — and we watched the news unfold together. I stood there, an American abroad, a new mother, and saw the second tower fall.

It was surreal, almost unbearable. My first reaction was that I needed to come home — to stand with my fellow Americans in solidarity against such a horrific attack. For those of us here, the call to service is not abstract. It is lived and felt every day. Our firefighters, EMTs, and police officers embody the same spirit that first responders showed that morning — running toward danger when others ran away.

Just a year ago, I sat in the audience, outside this very station, listening to John Morris, a former New York City firefighter, share his story of being at Ground Zero that day. His story reminded me: these tragedies are not just history. They ripple through families, departments, and communities like ours.

And right here in Great Barrington, we saw that same heroism again last year — on November 18 — when the Butternut fire broke out on East Mountain. Some of the responders who fought that fire are gathered with us today.   

These men and women ran toward flames under dangerous conditions, putting their own safety aside to protect lives and to contain what could have been a devastating disaster.

And while they fought, their families waited at home — holding their breath, praying for safe return, and carrying that mix of fear and pride every responder’s loved ones know.

That quiet sacrifice is part of the story, too. That courage, that selflessness—that’s the very spirit we honor today.

For me, this ceremony also carries a personal weight. My father, Sergeant Major Lloyd Davis, a proud Army veteran of the Korean War, taught me the meaning of duty and sacrifice. Today, my own daughter is carrying that torch as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy,  preparing to serve and protect our nation.

Their example reminds me: service is not just a choice. It is a legacy we pass forward.

And in a world today that often feels divided — politically, socially, culturally — it is worth pausing to recognize what we have right here.

In Great Barrington, in Berkshire County, in communities across Massachusetts — we still gather like this. We still honor service. We still come together to lift up what is best in each of us.

That sense of community, of looking out for one another, is something special. It’s something we must never lose. On September 11th, 2001 the worst of humanity met the best of humanity. The terrorists tried to break us. Instead, they revealed the unbreakable bonds of service, sacrifice, and community.

Let us honor those we lost by strengthening those bonds here at home. Let us ensure our first responders have the support they need. That our veterans are never forgotten. And that our young people — like my daughter and so many others — know, that service is not just an option,  but a calling worthy of their lives.

Today we remember. Today we honor. And today we recommit ourselves to one another, to our community, and to the enduring promise of service.

Thank you.