Keep telling stories of 9/11, NM leaders say

The city’s annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony took place Wednesday afternoon at Civic Plaza.

The event featured multiple speakers, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who flew in from Philadelphia to attend.

“This reminder is an incredibly, I believe, both for me personally and for so many New Mexicans and Americans, a proud, productive day to make sure that we all support each other, related to the unity and the sacrifices of so many Americans and so many firefighters,” Lujan Grisham said.

Lujan Grisham also said she appreciated the firefighters who continue doing the annual remembrance climb, which took place Wednesday morning when firefighters, with gear on, climbed 110 stories to honor the over 300 New York Fire Department members who died responding to the attacks. The tradition began in 2003 when an Albuquerque Fire Rescue lieutenant, while deployed in Afghanistan, climbed a two-story building 55 times wearing body armor, according to the city.

The governor also spent a portion of her speech touting policies she has tried to implement to help firefighters during her tenure in Santa Fe, specifically mentioning the PTSD Employment Condition for Firefighters bill that passed in 2019.

Following the governor, on behalf of Mayor Tim Keller, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel spoke.

“There is an entire generation of Americans who are not born yet or not old enough to remember that day and remember what unfolded in front of each of us on 9/11,” Sengel said. “That includes, by the way, most of the first responders joining our ranks in AFR (Albuquerque Fire Rescue) and APD. Those young folks were not here with us that year, and had only learned from those of us that can tell those stories. They will remember when we tell these stories of tragedy, when we tell the stories of strength and resilience. They will understand what those stories mean.”

City Councilors Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan, Tammy Fiebelkorn and Renee Grout were in attendance.

Miguel Tittmann, president of the Albuquerque Area Firefighters Union Local 244, also thanked the governor for attending the event and passing policies that assist firefighters.

“A very special thanks to our governor. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has supported firefighters throughout her entire political career, from the chambers of Bernalillo County Commission to the halls of the United States Congress to the fourth floor of the New Mexico State Capitol and the Legislature,” Tittmann said. “But probably the most impactful way that she has supported us is by continuing to show up and spend this day every single September 11 with us.”

Ed Perea, the city’s policy adviser for criminal justice, recalled his memory of the tragic day 23 years ago.

Perea said he was preparing to drop his daughter off at school when the first tower was hit, then reported to work, where he was a watch commander for the Albuquerque Police Department on the city’s West Side.

“When the second plane hit the tower, we knew we had a dangerous situation occurring in the country,” Perea said. “So immediately I activated as the watch commander that morning the Emergency Operations Center and began to call out the appropriate personnel continue to gather information, try to determine exactly what we had going on .”

Perea said that a couple years after the attack when he was at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, he met multiple New York Police Department officers who responded to the Sept. 11 attack and with whom he remains in contact.

He added, he was glad to see people take time out of their Wednesday afternoon to attend the city’s ceremony.

“It’s great to see the people out there and just continue to support the current and former public safety officers who continue to recall that fateful day in our country’s history,” Perea said.