ROCKLAND — At 8:46 in the morning on Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston, Mass., crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Seven minutes later, hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the WTC's South Tower. The terror was not over in the U.S., because at 9:37 that morning, hijacked AA Flight 77 was crashed into the west side of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and hijacked UA Flight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pa. Researching and retelling these times, flight numbers and locations have a way of bringing the mind back to that morning like it was yesterday.

But it wasn't yesterday. It's been 13 years since hijacker Mohammed Atta and his associates did so much damage and caused so much pain to Americans — on American soil.

Thirteed years later, that tragic day in modern American history is still cause for pause for countless Americans. On Sept. 11, friends, families and others will once again take a moment to honor the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and sons and daughters killed that day in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Along with the airline passengers and crews, government employees, office workers and everyday people who lost their lives 13 years ago on Sept. 11 in New York, Washington, D.C. and Somerset County, Pa., hundreds of firemen, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other first responders also lost their lives trying to save victims trapped inside and around the burning buildings.

And on this Sept. 11, a Thursday, Rockland Fire/EMS is extending an invitation to the community to participate in a brief remembrance ceremony beginning at 9 a.m., in front of the city's 9/11 memorial at 118 Park St.

Construction of the memorial got underway Sept. 1, 2012, by the members of Rockland Professional Firefighter IAFF L-1584, with all materials donated by Home Depot. The memorial was completed in 2013, with landscaping and its associated labor donated by Farley and Son Landscaping in Rockport.

The landscaping work took two days and included more than $5,000 in donated materials and labor, according to Rockland firefighter/EMT-1 Chris Whytock.

"The Rockland Professional Firefighters would like to publicly thank Home Depot and Farley and Son. Without their financial support and expertise the memorial would never have been built," said Whytock.

He also said the flowers surrounding the memorial this year were planted and donated by Barbara and John Pratt of Nutmeg Hill Builders.

For more information on 9/11:

• The History Channel’s 9/11 Attacks: 102 Minutes That Changed America (an interactive of unfiltered eyewitness videos)

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.

To post information about other local 9/11 remembrance events, send email to news@penbaypilot.com.