Nehring’s sentiments echoed those of Greg Kanehen, pastor of the Marysville Free Methodist Church and chaplain for the Marysville Police Department and Fire District, who offered the opening invocation.

“People ran from those buildings, but more importantly, other people ran into those buildings,” Kanehen said, after members of the Fire District Honor Guard had lined up in front of the Police and Firefighters’ Memorial, outside the Marysville Library, at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2014.

Kanehen deemed the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 to be a generational tragedy, and compared it to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

“We’re grateful to those whose calling and mission are instilled in their hearts and minds,” Kanehen said.

Like Kanehen, Nehring praised those who had “charged into harm’s way,” including the 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers who died.

“A true friend is someone who runs in when others run out,” said Nehring, who noted that the day’s deaths also included Marysville Fire Lt. Jeff Thornton, who lost his battle with cancer. “This ceased to be an ordinary day, as it became a time to remember who we were that day, and who we became, as we stood united, compassionate and fearless.”

Nehring personalized the attacks’ total death toll of 2,977 by pointing out that it’s not just a statistic.

“We hear that number every year, but we need to highlight its gravity,” Nehring said. “Each one of those numbers represents a real person, like Lt. Thornton, whose death left a gap.”

Even as Nehring pointed out that many of the children in attendance hadn’t even been born yet when the attacks occurred, he singled out one child who died in the attacks.

“Christine Lee Hanson would be fifteen today, old enough to be attending high school, like many of our own kids,” Nehring said. “Her whole life still would have been ahead of her.”

After Marysville Fire Capt. Chip Kruse played “Taps” on his bugle, Capt. Dan Schwartz rang the bell at the memorial at 8:48 a.m., in honor of Thornton and the first responders who died in the attacks.

“This annual ceremony helps us all remember and pay tribute to those who died, as we also remember the loss of one of our own on that very same day,” said Fire Chief Greg Corn, who noted that this event has taken place every year since 2001. “As we look back on the events that took place thirteen years ago, we have a responsibility to those who gave their lives, and to those who continue to fight and sacrifice for our freedom and security. Marysville is a community that will never forget.”