More than 600 people came together at the Clermont Performing Arts Center on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and honor the 2,977 lives lost that day.

The nearly two-hour tribute was presented by the City of Clermont in conjunction with the Clermont Police and Fire Departments.

Before the invocation by Chaplin Victor Lopez, Clermont Fire Chief David Ezell opened the ceremony by recognizing 9/11 survivors, first responders and families who continue to live with the loss of loved ones.

 

“Across communities throughout our great nation, people recognize your sacrifice,” he says. “They see the courage it takes to remember, to speak their names and to carry their legacy. You have given more than anyone should ever be asked to give and you have earned our eternal gratitude.”

Clermont Police Chief John Graczyk said the effects of Sept. 11 did not end with the attacks. Survivors, families and first responders continue to suffer from illnesses tied to the rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts.

He said “we will never forget” must remain more than a familiar phrase.

“It is a solemn promise,” Graczyk said. “A promise to remember those who were lost, to honor those who serve and to teach future generations about the courage, sacrifice, resilience and unity that emerged from one of the darkest days in American history.”

Mayor Tim Murry directed part of his message to young people in the audience, including many who had not yet been born when the attacks occurred.

 

Murry said those who remember 9/11 firsthand cannot assume younger generations will automatically understand what happened or what followed. They must tell the stories, speak the names and explain the courage shown by first responders and ordinary citizens.

“You know 9/11 because someone told you about it,” Murry says. “But now, you are the ones who will have to tell the next generation.”

He challenged them to ask parents and grandparents where they were that day, talk to first responders about what service means and learn about those who were lost.

“One day, there will be no one left in this room who personally remembers 9/11,” Murry says. “When that day comes, the memory will live or die with you.”

U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster spoke about the unity seen across the country on Sept. 12, 2001, and challenged attendees to honor the spirit of those who served by finding ways to serve others. He suggested volunteering, supporting charities, writing to military members and thanking first responders.

The program also included a video compiled by city staff using archival footage and interviews with people personally connected to the attacks. The video also shared accounts from survivors, first responders and families of victims, reinforcing that behind the staggering loss were individual people with families, careers, friendships and futures.

 

Among those featured was Clermont Police Capt. Robert Corbett, who had been an NYPD officer for four years when the attacks occurred. Corbett was on his way to court when he saw the second tower struck. He reported to police headquarters and helped move people away from danger before later rotating between his precinct and ground zero.

Corbett worked 12- to 14-hour shifts in dust-filled conditions with limited protective equipment as the mission changed from rescue to recovery. Today, in addition to serving Clermont, he works as an attorney representing 9/11 survivors, first responders and families seeking assistance for illnesses related to their exposure.

 

Ceremonial moments throughout the morning added to the scale and solemnity of the anniversary tribute.

The Clermont police and fire departments’ honor guard, along with Central Florida First Responders Pipes and Drums presented the colors followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

The national anthem was sung by East Ridge High School’s Rhythm of the Knight Show Choir, who followed with a powerful performance of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” filling the room with the repeated refrain of “Glory, glory, hallelujah.”

The traditional last alarm ceremony honoring firefighters and other first responders who died on 9/11 and those lost in the years since also took place. Ezell explained three rings of a bell, repeated three times serves as a final tribute and farewell.

Then the morning’s keynote speaker took the stage, further putting the boxes of tissues placed throughout the venue to work.

Rivera, a Bronx native who spent 20 years with the NYPD, was assigned to the department’s Intelligence Division in 2001. Just days before the attacks, he and his partner had been inside the World Trade Center’s North Tower preparing for the United Nations General Assembly. They ate dinner at Windows on the World on the tower’s 106th and 107th floors.

He told how on the morning of Sept. 11, he was home when his sergeant called and told him to turn on the television. Rivera couldn’t believe what he was seeing and at one point, believed he was watching a replay of the first plane striking the World Trade Center until his sergeant told him a second plane had hit.

Rivera quickly put on his uniform, kissed his wife and daughter goodbye and headed toward lower Manhattan. His two sons were already at school.

“What bothered me was that I didn’t get to say goodbye to my two sons not knowing what I was getting into, but I still kept moving forward,” Rivera says.

By the time he arrived, the streets were unrecognizable and covered in thick dust. Rivera described hearing screams, helping bleeding survivors and passing people who had not survived. Even after years of dangerous undercover narcotics work and criminal investigations, he said nothing in his career had prepared him for what he encountered that day.

“What I saw, what I heard, and what I experienced that day are memories I have carried with me for 25 years,” Rivera says.

His work continued after the attacks. For at least two weeks, Rivera was assigned to a hospital morgue, where he assisted with the difficult task of identifying victims.

Twenty-four years later, the attacks reached into his life again.

Rivera was diagnosed in summer 2025 with Stage 4 prostate cancer related to his exposure during the 9/11 response. He underwent nine weeks of daily aggressive radiation treatments, followed by injections and medication. His cancer is now under control with continued treatment.

“The dust may have settled, the buildings may have been rebuilt, but for many of us who were there, 9/11 really never ended,” he says.

Rivera said cancer has changed how he sees everyday life. Traffic no longer bothers him. Rain feels different. Even the accidental kick from a grandchild has become something for which he can be grateful.

His grandchildren, three with a fourth on the way, and fellow first responders who stood by him, helped give him the strength to endure treatment.

Despite everything he witnessed, the friends he has lost and the cancer he continues to fight, Rivera says he does not regret answering the call.

“I would do it all over again if I had to,” he says.

 

After the indoor program, attendees gathered outside for a rifle salute by the Marine Corps League’s Clermont-South Lake Detachment 1120 and the playing of taps by Allen Venezio.

 

The Guy Fieri Foundation then provided a full barbeque lunch and refreshments for everyone in attendance, allowing the remembrance to close with fellowship—the same sense of community and unity speakers repeatedly urged those present to carry forward.

Twenty-five years later, the message heard throughout the ceremony remained clear, as spoken by Chief Ezell before tasking everyone in the room, including his firefighters, with a mission going forward.

“Here in our community, we may be miles from ground zero, but we are not removed from its impact,” he says. “The lessons of 9/11 live at every firehouse, every emergency call, every moment we choose service over comfort. We honor the fallen, not just with ceremonies, but with the way we carry ourselves when the alarm sounds.”

“As we reflect today, I ask each of us to remember three things: the lives we have lost, the heroes who rose and the unity we found as a nation, something we must continue to value and protect.”

Photos: Roxanne Brown