THE VALLEY — The public is invited to attend a ceremony on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The annual ceremony is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on the Derby Green at the city’s Sept. 11 memorial.
The keynote speaker is retired Capt. Michael Rak, of the U.S. Navy.
Rak, a Derby native, retired from the Navy in 2024 after 27 years of service. His last active-duty assignment was as vice-president and chief of staff at the U.S. Naval War College.
The ceremony will also feature remarks from Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino, Ansonia Mayor Frank Tyszka, Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis, and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.
Speakers from the emergency services include new Derby Police Chief Brian Grogan, Derby Fire Department Chief Thomas Biggs, Derby Storm Ambulance President Thomas Lenart, Sr. and Derby Fire Department Commissioner Gary Parker.
Maria Blackwell, the exalted ruler of the Derby Elks Club, is also scheduled to speak.
The Derby Elks Club is also inviting first responders, along with their friends and family, to a reception after the ceremony at the Elks Club, 73 Elizabeth St.
In all, 2,977 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks, which were coordinated by al-Qaeda, a terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi-born zealot who was killed in 2011 by U.S. troops during a raid on his secret compound in Pakistan.
Two hijacked commercial planes were flown into the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. Both towers collapsed. A third plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the hijackers. A fourth commercial airliner was flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Derby unveiled its Sept. 11 Memorial in November 2014.
It features a bent piece of steel from the Twin Towers. Derby Fire Department leadership had applied to the New York/New Jersey Port Authority to receive the steel that serves as a centerpiece to the memorial.
“We know this beam went through hell, just like everybody in those towers,” Derby Fire Department Commissioner Gary Parker said at the first ceremony in 2014. “It may be bent, but it did not break — much like the character of our country.”
There is on-street parking available on Elizabeth and Minerva streets surrounding the Green. There is also a nearby parking garage on Thompson Place, between Elizabeth and Olivia.
