For many in public safety, 9/11 did not end in 2001; it continues to claim lives through fatal cancers and chronic diseases contracted during post-attack operations.
The 25th Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at the Fairfax County Public Safety Headquarters
Members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department leadership render a salute during the national anthem at the 25th Anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at Public Safety Headquarters.
For Fairfax County crews who responded directly to Flight 77's impact, the burning Pentagon was a local disaster scene, and the ceremony served as a solemn promise to pass that memory down to new generations.
“The horrific acts of violence and terrorism happened here on our soil at the Pentagon in Arlington,” said Virginia Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi. “At 9:37 that morning, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon, taking 184 precious lives and forever changing Virginia and our nation.”
In Fairfax County, the impact was immediate. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay recalled sitting in a meeting with then-Supervisor Jerry Hyland at Sherwood Hall Library when news shattered normalcy. “Quickly we realized how those little things weren't that important,” McKay said.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Chief John S. Butler tied that sudden shift to the enduring demands of public service, invoking the 343 FDNY firefighters and paramedics who died at the World Trade Center. “They kept climbing… they were tired. They kept going up,” Butler said. “Service to others—that's our fuel, that's our wealth, that's what we embrace.”
For local responders, the call to duty was abrupt. Sheriff Stacey A. Kincaid recalled resting at home after a midnight shift. “I was awakened by a call from a supervisor. The words on the other end of the phone were unthinkable,” Kincaid said. “A plane had struck the Pentagon, and staff needed to report back immediately to work.”
In Chantilly that morning, then-firefighter Bill Betz, now Deputy Fire Chief, prepared for a routine simulated plane-crash drill. Instead, crews watched the crisis unfold on television before being ordered back to their station as the county entered lockdown and air traffic at Dulles International Airport ground to a halt. When Betz deployed to the scene, the scale proved overwhelming.
Speaking shortly after 10:15 a.m., Betz recounted the transition from observer to responder. “We got down there, and I think the first thing I recognized was the sheer magnitude of the incident,” Betz recalled, contrasting TV images with reality. For Betz, sharing those memories with newer personnel remains an essential duty.
The attacks also altered municipal law enforcement. Police Chief Kevin Davis emphasized how 9/11 expanded department responsibilities. “Before 9/11, the military and federal law enforcement fought terrorism. After 9/11, and still true today, we all fight terrorism,” Davis said. “Let us now strengthen that resolve.”
In the chaotic days that followed, Fairfax County responders answered without hesitation. Kincaid noted that while deputies deployed to the Pentagon, others traveled to New York to support law enforcement colleagues. Across Northern Virginia, residents lined up to donate blood and hung flags from overpasses, transforming highways into corridors of solidarity. “This country came together,” Kincaid said, “refusing to allow our differences to divide us.”
Yet 9/11 has not ended. Betz recalled asking Fairfax County Firefighter Kevin Huheey, who would be singing the national anthem, where he had been on 9/11, only to hear, “Well, I wasn't born yet”—a reminder of the duty to pass that day’s story on to a new generation.
“Before we conclude today's ceremony, we would like a moment to honor the members of our own public safety family who have passed away from illnesses related to their service following Sept. 11, 2001,” Betz said.
Department leadership read the names of those lost: Fairfax County Police Department Master Police Officer Donald "Donnie" A. Lillard Jr., March 1, 2023, and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Battalion Chief Michael "Mike" Tameler, Dec. 28, 2023.
Recognition of their deaths framed the closing observance at Public Safety Headquarters, serving as a reminder that honoring the fallen means remembering both those lost in 2001 and those who succumb decades later.
Following the ceremony, Betz invited attendees inside to view museum artifacts: “On behalf of Fairfax County and the Fairfax County public safety community, thank you for being here and for helping us to ensure the lives and sacrifices we remember today are never forgotten.”