Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, San Joaquin County Supervisor Mario Gardea asked a Stockton crowd to picture the scale of the loss closer to home.
Gardea asked the crowd to imagine every firefighter in Stockton, Modesto and Tracy entering a building “and none of them returning.”
It was how Gardea, a retired Stockton firefighter, tried to put into perspective the deaths of 343 members of the New York City Fire Department on Sept. 11, 2001.
Veterans, firefighters, police officers and community members gathered Friday morning at VFW Luneta Post 52 for a Patriot Day ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
The attacks killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
But the ceremony in Stockton was also about what has happened in the quarter-century since — the first responders who continued to die from illnesses linked to their work after the attacks, the families who continue to carry those losses and the responsibility of passing the memory of Sept. 11 to generations who did not live through it.
For Gardea, that memory is tied closely to the fire service.
Before joining the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, Gardea spent about two decades with the Stockton Fire Department and served as president of the Stockton Firefighters Association.
“As a retired firefighter, I will never forget September 11th,” Gardea said.
He said the loss of 343 firefighters that morning has remained particularly difficult to comprehend.
“They went to work that morning, put on the uniform, had no idea the magnitude of the tragedy,” Gardea said.
Twenty-five years later, the fire service’s losses from Sept. 11 have continued.
More than 600 FDNY members have died from health complications related to the attacks and the rescue and recovery work that followed, according to New York City officials.
A 25-year health report released by the FDNY this month found 10,562 department members are certified with at least one Sept. 11-related physical health condition, including respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal illnesses. Another 4,257 members have a cancer certification. The program includes firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, officers, civilians and retirees who responded to the World Trade Center or participated in recovery efforts.
For Stockton Fire Chief Brian Carr, however, the passage of a quarter-century has not made the morning feel distant.
“It’s incredible that 25 years have passed,” Carr said. “It feels like just yesterday.”
Carr said many people still remember exactly where they were and what they were doing as they watched the attacks unfold, along with the anger, disbelief and despair that followed.
The first responders who reported for work that morning, he said, could not have known what would be asked of them.
“To them, it was just another day, another day of service,” Carr said.
Carr also honored the civilians and members of the armed forces whose lives were altered in the years after the attacks, including service members who returned home carrying visible and invisible wounds.
“As we observe 25 years since 9/11, I want to acknowledge those who stepped up when the nation needed them most: civilians, first responders and our military,” Carr said.
As the years pass, remembrance also carries a different challenge: More people are growing up without any firsthand memory of Sept. 11.
Stockton Police Department Assistant Chief Scott Graviette said preserving the stories of those who died is increasingly important as the attacks move further into history.
“Twenty-five years later, we must continue to tell the stories of those lost and ensure that future generations understand the significance of their sacrifice,” Graviette said.
At Luneta Post 52, that remembrance took ceremonial form.
Tomas Bermudez, commander of VFW Luneta Post 52 and master of ceremonies, told those gathered that Patriot Day was about more than looking backward.
“Patriot Day is not only a day of remembrance; it is a reminder of who we choose to be,” Bermudez said.
He urged those in attendance to carry the memory forward through service — whether by helping a neighbor, supporting a veteran or strengthening their community.
That emphasis on service was echoed in New York on Friday.
In a video message commemorating the anniversary, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the attacks as a “day of immeasurable loss” but also recalled New Yorkers donating blood, opening their homes to strangers and helping others escape the World Trade Center.
“Twenty-five years later, we have a sacred obligation to those who were stolen from us,” Mamdani said, urging people “to care for one another as they cared for strangers.”
The message was released as commemorations were held across New York City on Friday. Earlier this month, New York City also formally designated Sept. 11 as an annual citywide Day of Remembrance and Service.
In Stockton, Gardea ended his remarks with the same promise that has followed the fire service for the past 25 years.
“We will remember their courage,” he said. “We will honor their sacrifice, and we will carry their memory.”
