Walking around rows of wood, pipes and other materials, Thomas Kitahata was focused on renovating his garage until he was paged by his wife and he looked up at screens in front of the hardware store, watching as the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfolded.
Twenty-three years later, Kitahata, who is now a captain with the Los Angeles Fire Department, joined his colleagues and Los Angeles Police Department officers attending a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Wednesday at at the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Elysian Park.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 members of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Hijackers crashed another plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth jet crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach its intended destination in Washington, D.C.
The attacks changed the nation. And, for that matter, the world. But the days, weeks and months that followed the heartbreaking strikes on the U.S. displayed a period of unity and healing unprecedented in our history.
Ceremonies memorializing those who died — and honoring the first responders who sacrificed their lives to save as many people as they could during the frantic aftermath of the stunning attacks — during the terror attacks took place all over Los Angeles County on Wednesday. All flags on government facilities were to remain at half-staff until sundown.
LA fire helicopters due a flyby during the 23rd annual 9/11 ceremony at the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center Wednesday, Elysian Park CA Sept 11, 2024.(Photo by Gene Blevins, Contributing Photographer)
At Elysian Park, Mayor Karen Bass, LAFD Chief Kristen Crowley, LAPD Interim Chief Dominic Choi, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna and other regional public safety and city officials offered tributes at the event. The ceremony also included bagpipers and a helicopter flyover.
“Just hours after the attacks, members of the LAFD Urban Search and Rescue Task Force mobilized, heading to Ground Zero with one mission in mind: to serve,” Bass said.
“With no clear sense of what awaited them, they boarded a plane from March Air Force Base to New Jersey,” she continued. “Upon arriving, they sifted through rubble, searched for the missing, and provided relief to their fellow firefighters in New York, giving them the chance to be with their families during a devastating time.”
Bass recounted how she was in New York a week after the terrorist attacks – when smoke still rose from the World Trade Center and first responders from L.A. still hoped to rescue more victims in the rubble.
“Today, we honor those whose lives were tragically cut short, and we hold close the families who still grieve,” Bass said. “But we must also remember the heroes who ran toward the danger. They sacrificed to help rebuild, to restore hope, and to light a path forward.”
Several members of the L.A. City Council attended the ceremony, including Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park, John Lee, Kevin de León and Tim McOsker, according to the mayor’s office.
“Today, we honor all those we lost on 9/11, who will forever stay in our hearts,” Krekorian later said on X. “Today, we honor bravery, compassion and the spirit of unity. We will never forget the first responders who answered the call and made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.”
Many firefighters, paramedics and other first responders died or suffered health-related illnesses due to exposure to toxins at Ground Zero in the years after 9/11.
Kitahata, a 36-year veteran of the department, recalled how in a matter of 12 hours from that moment, he and a group of emergency responders landed at an Air Force Base and were soon supporting the New York Fire Department in their efforts to find survivors and respond to the aftermath of the terror attack.
“I wasn’t nervous. I had been in disasters before, but when we got to Ground Zero — we couldn’t — it was hard to understand the scope and devastation was done by human hands,” Kitahata said.
The LAFD deployed about 70 members as part of California Task Force 1 and 23 members as a Critical Incident Stress Management Team in search-and-rescue efforts in the aftermath at the World Trade Center.
Pepperdine alumnus Blake Blacklidge straightens flags at the annual “Waves of Flags” on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, at Pepperdine University to honor victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Approximately 350 alumni, students, university personnel and volunteers raised American flags, and a national flag for each foreign country who lost citizens that day, representing the 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The display of flags, a tradition started by students in 2008, will be on display through Sept. 27. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)
Kitahata also remembered the resilience the people of New York showed.
“I’ll always remember the support we were able to provide, and the emotional support that people gave,” Kitahata said. “Some of the other things that I think about are how people get together in times of need — for the common good. Also, how America, New York especially, but how America just bounced back.”
More than 3,000 people died as a result of the terror attacks.
During many ceremonies around L.A. County on Wednesday, various versions of “10 Bells” salutes were presented. The ringing of the bell is a tradition, symbolizing the beginning of a day’s shift. When a firefighter died in the line of duty, it was the toll of the bell that announced a comrade’s passing, according to the LAFD.
Kitahata said it is important to understand the significance of 9/11 and to commemorate the lives lost that day. Some of the younger generations don’t fully comprehend the weight of that day, he noted, which he also described as “disheartening.”
The fire captain said he talked to his three children when they were young about the tragedy.
“It’s a hard topic, but it’s important to educate them, and the different ways people think,” he added. “… It’s never forget what happened, and also how to prevent it from happening again.”
Across the Southland:
–Long Beach officials and the community gathered at Fire Station 1, in the city’s downtown, to honor those who died. The ceremony included a Last Alarm tribute at 9:11 a.m., a commemorative wreath laying, remarks from Mayor Rex Richardson, a bagpiper performing “Amazing Grace” and a moment of silence.
— The San Gabriel Fire Department hosted at tribute at Fire Station 51.
— The Culver City fire and police departments hosted a ceremony at Fire Station #1.
–Pepperdine University set up its annual “Waves of Flags” over the weekend and hosted a remembrance ceremony on Wednesday. Nearly 350 volunteers including students, faculty members and staff from the university, raised American flags representing the 2,977 victims. Also raised were one national flag for each foreign country who lost citizens that day.
Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the private university’s eye-catching display of flags — a tradition started by students in 2008 — is up through Sept. 27 at Alumni Park, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. People who visit the display are invited to write a note of remembrance, a prayer or a healing thought on a note card (provided at the entrance of the display) and then attach their note to one of the flag poles.
— At 6 p.m., the city of Carson was scheduled to put on “Heroes Day” at the Carson Event Center.
In a proclamation from the White House issued Tuesday, President Joe Biden honored the “brave Americans who met the terror of September 11 with extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice.”
“In our darkest hour — when terrorists believe they could bring our nation to its knees — those Americans proved that our nation’s unbreakable spirit would prevail,” the proclamation read. “Over the last 23 years, what was destroyed, we have repaired. What was threatened, we have fortified. What was attacked — the indomitable American spirit — prevailed. That is who we are. That is the soul of our Nation.”
Related Articles
At Elysian Park, LA leaders and relatives honor the 2,977 killed on 9/11
Where to attend Sept. 11 remembrances and visit memorial sites in LA County
Pepperdine University’s ‘Waves of Flags’ remembers Sept. 11 victims
Things to do in the San Fernando Valley, LA area, Sept. 5-12
Things to do in the San Fernando Valley, LA area, Aug. 29-Sept. 5