By Amy Batista, Special Writer
MONROE — The Township hosted two events to honor and mark the 11th Anniversary of 9-11 Tuesday.
Monroe Township Fire District No. 2 dedicated a 9-11 monument and garden at noon on Tuesday at the firehouse on Halsey Reed and Applegarth roads.
The memorial was designed by Mr. Mahler, an art history professor in the 1960s, which features the piece of steel beam, next to it on a granite headstone that features “The Fireman’s Prayer” and a base stone inscribed with a scripture from Samuel 25:29, which reads, “May their souls be bound up in the bond of eternal life.”
”Our special artifact is now here to show us it came through to help us to continue to remember,” Mr. Mahler said. “We will always remember.”
Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 300 firefighters and police officers.
”This is a fitting tribute because of the number of emergency responders that gave the ultimate sacrifice on that fateful day – the firefighters, the EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), the police officers,” said Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton. “There were so many that went into that building as many were leaving to try to get themselves away from the horror that was taking place inside.”
Around 100 people were in attendance for the dedication including Emergency Services personnel, Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-14, Council Vice President Henry Miller, Councilman Michael Leibowitz, Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton, and Fire Commissioners of Monroe Township Fire District No. 2.
At dusk, the township also hosted a Community Candlelight Memorial Service at the Monroe Township Memorial Tree Park on Prospect Plains Road and Half-Acre Road
”It is my privilege to stand with you this evening to remember what has passed, to cherish this moment right now and look forward to the future,” said Council President Gerald Tamburro.”My memory, not on the eleventh, but the day after the eleventh, was that I was a child of the airplane and there wasn’t a plane in the sky, there wasn’t a noise, there was just the grieving for those that gave their lives for some imaginable terrorist and terror group,” Mr. Tamburro said.
Monroe Township Tree Park is the site of the 9-11 Memorial, which pays tribute to those family members that were impacted by the 9-11 attacks. It was dedicated in 2002 and each victim is represented with their name on a granite stone panel in the park – William Fallon; Stewart Harris; Steven Lillianthal; Vincent Gallucci; Joseph Giaccone; Mark Rothenberg, James Samuel, Jr. ; Jeffrey Wiener.
Each victim’s name was read and a bell was rung by Monroe Fire District No. 3 Firefighter Brian Johnson followed by Monroe Fire District No. 3 firefighter Richard Stromberg playing “Amazing Grace” on the bag pipes.
Mr. Hamilton then invited everyone to come up and take a look at the conclusion of the ceremony.
At the end of the ceremony, everyone joined in lighting a candle to pay tribute. The Boy Scouts started the candle lighting process and everyone joined in signing “God Bless America.”
An American Flag Memorial displaying 2,977 flags in remembrance of those who perished on 9-11 is open to the public to view and will be on display until Sept. 13.

