Laguna Beach renews pledge to ‘never, ever forget’ victims of 9/11 attacks
Laguna Beach Fire Chief Niko King could have been on his way to Ground Zero in the aftermath of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
As a firefighter in Sacramento, King said he was part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency team that had been activated. He recalled his wife was due to give birth at the time, and the team headed to New York City without him.
“I stayed back,” King said. “I actually got assigned to the governor’s office. They opened up the state operations center, and I was staying in touch with our team that was back on Ground Zero, doing the work, and briefing Gov. Gray Davis every single morning, so that he knew what California resources were doing out there.”
Since then, fire departments across the country have held remembrance ceremonies annually to honor the memories of the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the attacks that day 23 years ago.
King has taken part in those ceremonies throughout his career, and he led Laguna Beach’s memorial event on Wednesday morning.
“I know some of you here today have your own personal memories,” King told those in attendance. “We all do. We know where we were. When we got the news, we were all glued to our TVs, but to you that lost loved ones, it’s your courage that inspires us as first responders to continue to serve in this community.”
“On this day, Sept. 11, and every Sept. 11, it’s a day that we can recommit to our core values — courage, compassion and dedication to serve one another,” King continued. “We made the commitment to never forget their sacrifice. We’ll always remember the fallen and will continue to serve, just like they did, with bravery and love.”
The ceremony was held at Monument Point in Heisler Park. More than two dozen uniformed personnel lined up behind “Semper Memento,” a public art sculpture incorporating two steel beams from the World Trade Center.
The American flag flew at half-staff in the background, while attendees were invited to plant their own flags in the ground in a display of unity in front of the memorial.
King’s remarks began at 8:46 a.m. local time, in recognition of the time that the hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower. Several minutes of silence were observed until 9:03 a.m., the time when Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
At that moment, a countywide radio broadcast from the fire service called all uniformed personnel to attention.
“We honor the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” the announcement said. “We pay tribute to those who put themselves in harm’s way, so that others may live. In doing so, we renew our pledge to never, ever forget.”
Jorg Dubin, the artist who created the “Semper Memento” sculpture, said the title means, “Always remember.” It features a reflective orb at the base of the intersecting beams, which Dubin said he intended to represent the “world-changing” nature of the incident.
Dubin added that a fire captain with the city was responsible for bringing the beams to town. Then the city held a design competition. Dubin’s sculpture was dedicated in 2011.
“It was pretty surreal to have these two pieces of the World Trade Center in my studio … for the duration of me fabricating the memorial itself,” Dubin said in looking back on the project. “They became like these sacred objects. I was just kind of in awe. This tragic event happened 3,000 miles away, and some years later, all of a sudden, I have a piece of it sitting in my studio. It was hard to get my mind around it, actually. It’s always been an honor for me to do this piece.”
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