Boston Whaler Commemorates September 11

Boston Whaler Commercial & Government Products participated in the Sept. 11 "Bridge of Hope" event in Ormond Beach, Fla. The ceremony was held to mark the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and to commemorate and honor those who lost their lives. Boston Whaler Commercial & Government Products donated the use of a 25-ft. Guardian fireboat to the City of Ormond Beach, which sponsored the commemoration.

At exactly 8:45 a.m., the time that the first plane crashed into New York City's World Trade Center's north tower, police officers lowered a 60-pound memorial wreath, symbolic of lives lost, from the Granada Bridge onto the deck of a Boston Whaler Commercial & Government Products 25-ft. Guardian fireboat on the Halifax River. Rev. John Gill of the Tomoka United Methodist Church then read a Roll of Honor with the names of friends or relatives of local residents who lost their lives on September 11.

A second wreath was lowered onto the Boston Whaler by firefighters at 9:03 a.m., the exact time that a second plane hit the south tower. Rabbi David Kane, of Congregation B'Nai Torah, then offered a "Prayer of Heroes" and the wreaths were then transported by the Whaler to shore. One wreath was placed onto a fire truck and the other onto a police cruiser. The vehicles, wreaths, fire and police personnel then followed a lone bagpiper to City Hall Plaza.

After a proclamation by Mayor Carl Persis at 10 a.m., the Fire Department coordinated a musical tribute and a flag ceremony, coinciding with the collapse of the two towers at 10:05 and 10:23 a.m. There was also a moment of silence for those lost in the attack on Pentagon and in the crash in Pennsylvania, where hijackers were thwarted by passengers from using that plane to mount a third attack. A second Roll of Honor, with the names of all the firefighters, police and other emergency personnel lost on September 11 was read by local firefighters and police officers.