MARYSVILLE – It’s been 16 years, but it’s still a day that will live in infamy in Marysville – Sept. 11, 2001.

That’s the morning terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers in New York City, and also a plane crashed into the Pentagon.

Thanks to heroic passengers, a fourth plane crashed in a rural area of Pennsylvania.

“They gave up their own lives to save others,” Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said at the city’s annual 9-11 ceremony at the library.

“In two short hours, everything changed,” he added.

Nehring also honored local “Fireman Jeff” Thornton, who died of cancer that same day.

Some of his family attended the event.

City firefighters and police also were honored.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to first-responders,” Nehring said.

He recalled how on 9-11, while many were rushing away to safety, firefighters and police were the heroes who were rushing in.

Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, many of them first-responders, but many more were saved.

About 16,000 were evacuated safely from the World Trade Center alone.

The mayor said survivors still have a tough time today.

“That memory is hard to erase,” he said.

But the community does not want to erase what happened from its memory.

The city will continue its tradition of a 9-11 ceremony.

“We will never forget,” Nehring said.