London firefighters gathered Monday morning to honour their fallen comrades as the world marks the 16th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
A ceremony was held at London Fire Department’s headquarters on 400 Horton Street.
During the ceremony, the Martin E Pierce medal was presented to the families of fire chief Robert Barr, and chief fire prevention officer Dave Varey.
“It’s wonderful to have people that stop and reflect and remember all of those that have given their lives,” said Jason Timlick, President of the London Professional Firefighters Association.
“Today we inscribed two new names on our monument, our fallen that gave their lives in the line of duty. I had the great privilege to hand the Martin E. Pierce medals to the families today in recognition of their loss,” added Timlick.
Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.
It was the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
343 firefighters were killed in New York. The figure is equal to the entire capacity of the London fire department.
24 Canadians were among the nearly three thousand people killed.
Monday’s ceremony also marked Donald Trump’s first commemoration of the 9/11 attacks as president.
Trump said during a 9-11 ceremony at the Pentagon that the nation grieves for the people “who were murdered by terrorists” 16 years ago.
The president and first lady Melania Trump joined Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, members of his Cabinet and military personnel at the Pentagon to observe the anniversary of the attacks on the nation’s defence headquarters.
The president is issuing a warning to extremists, saying “America cannot be intimidated” and those who try will join the list of enemies “who dared to test our mettle.”
With files from the Associated Press
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