Texas Panhandle War Memorial holds 9/11 remembrance ceremony

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - It’s been 22 years since 9/11, and the Texas Panhandle War Memorial held it’s annual ceremony to honor heroes that gave everything that day.

For the first time, Amarillo Emergency Communications participated along with Amarillo Police and Fire Department as well as Potter and Randall County Sheriff’s offices.

“It’s so important for us to remember those that fell on 9/11. This is not about who attacked us on 9/11 or anything else, this is all about the heroes that sacrificed their lives that day,” said Jeff Justus, community liaison for the Amarillo Fire Department.

Justus says that day changed how law enforcement worked forever.

“We train together. It’s built camaraderie between fire, police, EMS, city officials, the military — I mean it really brought this country together,” said Justus.

Not only did it change how they work together, but also in how they respond to everyday calls as well.

“I mean the alert systems — I mean there may or may not have been information that was available before, but now we make sure that if we hear things that we should be paying attention to hopefully make sure this doesn’t happen again, that we’re doing that,” said Public Information Officer for Amarillo Police Department Sgt. Carla Burr.

As the years continue to pass by, first responders reiterate the importance of carrying out these ceremonies.

“The saying is true that if you don’t remember things in the past, you’re destined to repeat those, and so if we don’t remember then it can happen to us again and that’s something we don’t ever want to see in America again,” said Sgt. Burr.

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