Clyde Fire Department to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11

Sep. 10—This month, Americans will solemnly remember the attacks launched Sept. 11, 2001, when airplanes were used by a terrorist group to level the World Trade Center, strike the Pentagon but miss their final target, suspected to be the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

The Clyde Fire Department has long provided a commemorative ceremony in Haywood County to honor those whose lives were lost in the attacks, especially the firefighters who died during the aftermath and later on.

This year's anniversary event will start at 5 p.m. Saturday when about a dozen New York firefighters will attend and several hundred others from the community are expected to be on hand.

Bill Hoke, a Clyde firefighter, has long spearheaded the effort. A dozen years ago, he read a magazine article about the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey distributing pieces of steel from the Twin Towers to communities who applied. Only 1,040 pieces of the steel were given out to locations across the country.

The only stipulation for recipients was to create a public memorial featuring the beams.

Hoke brought the idea to Clyde Fire Chief Mitch Sellars and the application process began. In March 2011, the fire department learned they were designated to receive two 8-foot-long beams weighing in at about 1,200 pounds each.

Captain Ben Caldwell came up with the design idea, the board approved the $30,000 to build the memorial, and the race was on to complete the project in time for the 10th anniversary event. They got it done, but with less than a day to spare.

The effort captured the attention of a videographer who has produced a 12-minute tribute to firefighters and the memorial effort in Clyde. The videographer will also livestream the Saturday event, Hoke said.

A long history

Hoke was a firefighter in Orange County, Florida, when the attacks happened, and was one of those attending the funerals of fallen firefighters and visiting Ground Zero shortly after the attack.

"They didn't have enough people to attend funerals," Hoke said, "so they flew 40 of us up there."From that point he felt a deep connection to his New York comrades. When he retired and moved to Clyde in 2007, he was hired as a part-time firefighter. Since then, about a dozen New York firefighters have retired to the region, and Hoke said the group gets together once a month for lunch.

"I expect there will easily be 12 who attend," he said, "and I'm expecting a bigger event since this is the 20th anniversary."

An estimated 500 people showed up for the 10th anniversary when the memorial was unveiled, and Hoke has a special unveiling planned for the 20th anniversary, too.

In addition to the usual guest speakers — the Clyde mayor and the county manager — this year's guest speaker will be the Rev. Mark Tice of East Fork Baptist Church of Cruso.

"There's a correlation between the adversity faced by New York firefighters and the adversity faced by the Cruso Fire Department," Hoke said.

Emily Christopher will sing during the ceremony and as has been the custom, doves will be released toward the end.

Now in his 50th year as a firefighter, Hoke is concerned that the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are diminishing in significance.

"The younger generation has no clue of what this was all about because a lot of them weren't even born then," Hoke said. "I'm just trying to keep this alive."

The Saturday event will begin at 5 p.m. Wearing face coverings will be a matter of individual choice.