Twenty-five years ago, Tony Gentile was a Boston-based flight attendant for American Airlines. He had just taken a flight to California when he heard about the hijacking on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Boston was a relatively small American Airlines base, and we treated each other as family,” he told GBH News. “So we heard the flight number, it was just a question of who was on the flight. We knew we would know them, and of course we knew all of them.”
Gentile was one of more than 100 people who gathered in Boston on Friday to commemorate the attacks. The names of the 219 people killed with Massachusetts ties were each read out on the State House steps, after a flag raising and a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. to mark the time the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.
Two of the four airplanes used in the attacks took off from Boston, as the hijackers boarded planes leaving Logan Airport that ultimately flew into the two towers in New York.
“I come here to remember, reflect, reaffirm that we will never, ever forget,” said Gentile, who is now retired.
The names were read aloud by public officials, including Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and family members and friends of the victims.
Karin Giansanti’s husband Kenneth Zelman was working in the World Trade Center’s North Tower on the day of the attacks.
“Each name represents a life, a beloved family member, friend, colleague and neighbor who was taken far too soon. And behind each name are families and friends whose lives were forever changed by their loss,” Giansanti said as the readings began. “Twenty-five years have passed, but time has not diminished the love we hold for those we lost, nor our commitment to remember them.”
Margaret Chabrek came to the steps of the State House from Dorchester. She says she wanted to pay respect to the firefighters, paramedics and first responders and keep their memories alive.
“I’m gonna remember to my last breath, I believe so,” she told GBH News.
Some attendees had personal connections to the victims, including Emily Nivison. Her best friend is Anna Sweeney Rossman, whose mother, Madeline Amy Sweeney, was a flight attendant from Acton who was working on the first flight. Sweeney spoke on the phone for 25 minutes from the hijacked plane, which helped authorities identify the attackers.
Nivison says there are several families from Acton who lost people in the attacks.
“Being here and getting to see it and listen to the names in person, really powerful,” Nivison told GBH News.
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Following the reading of the names, Thomas Joseph “TJ” Swenson Jr. was awarded the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery. Swenson is the Marine veteran who leaped into action in May when a gunman opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The award is given every year on Sept. 11.
Nivison was in kindergarten on the day of the attacks, and even though her own memories of that day are not strong, she is glad that people continue to mark the solemn occasion and remember the lives lost.
“It doesn’t feel lesser in any way, maybe even stronger as it goes on,” she said. “Because the craziness that it’s been so long, and just watching the generations continue and [think about] these people that died and what they’re not here to see.”
