00:00It is my deep privilege to join you today at One Police Plaza, and it is an immense honor
00:07to stand alongside the men and women of the NYPD, the loved ones and families of all who
00:14were killed in the horrific terror attacks 25 years ago, and in the months and years
00:20that followed.
00:21I want to acknowledge Police Commissioner Tisch and NYPD leadership for their stewardship
00:26of this department and for everything they do to support our officers.
00:30I also want to acknowledge the powerful faith leaders that are here with us today, NYPD
00:35Co-Chief Chaplains Reverend A.R. Bernard and His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan, our partners
00:40as well in law enforcement from the FBI, DOJ, State Police, as well as the union leaders
00:45that are here with us today, as well as our First Deputy Mayor, Dean Flehan, and our Deputy
00:49Mayor for Housing and Planning, Layla Bozark.
00:52On the morning of September 11, 2001, Officer John William Perry arrived here at
00:59One Police Plaza.
01:01Unlike his fellow officers who were pouring themselves a cup of coffee and preparing for
01:05the day ahead, Officer Perry was here for something else entirely.
01:09He was here to resign, to begin a new career as an attorney.
01:14He was in the midst of filing the paperwork when the first plane hit the North Tower.
01:19Without hesitation, he asked for his shield back and rushed to the scene.
01:25There he was confronted with unimaginable suffering, but he did not stop.
01:30With the same immense bravery and courage that was commonplace among so many that day, the
01:35kind that has long defined this department, Officer Perry ran into the fire.
01:40The last time he was seen, he was helping a woman out of the South Tower before rushing
01:46back in to save as many others as he could.
01:49Officer Perry, Officer Perry and 22 of his fellow officers, each with their own stories, were
01:55killed that morning.
01:56That includes 14 members of the Emergency Service Unit who were among the first to enter the towers.
02:02I had the great honor of visiting ESU Truck No. 2 yesterday.
02:06The same one that second grade Detective Joseph Vigiano served with.
02:10On September 11, Detective Vigiano acted with extraordinary valor.
02:14And it was not the first time.
02:16He, like so many others, did only what they had done many times before, placed themselves
02:22in unthinkable danger to protect others.
02:26His two sons now carry on his legacy of bravery as valued members of this very department.
02:31Every officer present that day embodied the NYPD's creed that the duty to protect is
02:37not a job that one clocks out of, but a calling one answers until the very end.
02:41In the days and months that followed September 11, thousands of NYPD officers and staff from
02:48across every precinct and every borough heeded that same call.
02:52They took on that same heavy and incalculable risk.
02:56Day after day, night after night, they searched the pile to recover the bodies of their fallen
03:01comrades and the thousands of civilians killed.
03:04When that work had finished, they stayed until the rubble and debris had been clear.
03:08All the while continuing to fulfill their duty to serve and protect our city.
03:13I know many of you who worked on the pile are here today.
03:17I also know that far too many are not.
03:20Over the last 25 years, we have lost more than 450 officers to 9-11 related illnesses.
03:27They were fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, and they were New Yorkers through and through.
03:31In everything they gave to their loved ones, their neighbors, their communities, and the
03:37pride they held for this city, and in the sacrifice they made without hesitation.
03:42When we say never forget, it is not an empty platitude.
03:46It is an obligation to honor all that was given by the men and women of the NYPD and their
03:51fellow first responders.
03:52By tending to those who are sick and by building a city worthy of their sacrifice.
03:58Last week, Officer Perry was honored with a street named after him in East Harlem.
04:02Today, we honor every NYPD officer who died on or after 9-11, those who gave so much to
04:09protect and to serve.
04:11In the words of ESU Detective Mike Hanson, who before he passed gave his younger officers
04:16a rule to work by, do what you can for who you can with whatever it takes.
04:21Yes, the men and women of the NYPD did what they could for who they could with whatever
04:27it took 25 years ago.
04:29And this department continues to.
04:31We will forever be grateful.
04:42And thank you, Mayor Mamdani.
04:44It's now my pleasure to introduce the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, the
04:47Honorable Jessica Stisch.
04:56Good morning, everyone.
04:58To the families of the members that we honor today, to the members of this department who
05:03served on September 11th and in the months that followed, and to everyone who helped make
05:09this memorial possible, thank you so much for being here with us.
05:12I also want to recognize our former first deputy commissioner, Joseph Dunn, who is here on the
05:18dais with us today.
05:20We are honored, Chief, by your presence.
05:26Chief Dunn was serving in that role on September 11th, and he helped lead this department through
05:31one of the darkest days in New York City's history.
05:3425 years ago, New York City was attacked by terrorists who sought to inflict unimaginable
05:40death and destruction.
05:41Twenty-three members, the NYPD, were killed at the World Trade Center that morning.
05:46Thousands more joined the rescue and recovery effort that followed, working for days, weeks,
05:52and months amid burning rubble and toxic debris, an extraordinary display of heroism that continued
06:00long after the attacks themselves.
06:03For them, September 11th did not end when the fires went out.
06:07The toll of that day has continued to unfold across a quarter-century.
06:12We have now lost more than 469 members to illness connected to their service in the aftermath of
06:19the attacks, and we know painfully that those losses are not over.
06:24Some of the members gathered with us today have fought their own battles with 9-11-related cancer.
06:30They endured treatments, uncertainty, and years in which the consequences of their service
06:35followed them long after they left Ground Zero.
06:39Their presence here reminds us that the history represented by this wall is still being written.
06:45There are families who lost someone on September 11th, and families whose loss came years later.
06:52There are others who continue to live with the effects of that service today.
06:56All of them are part of the story we are preserving here.
07:00The scale of the loss and the devastation that day was unfathomable, and so too was the heroism
07:06that we witnessed in response.
07:09Preserving that history also means preserving its moral clarity.
07:13The men who attacked this city were terrorists.
07:17The men and women who ran into the towers to save innocent lives were heroes.
07:24Twenty-five years cannot be allowed to blur that distinction and shame on those who do.
07:30The courage we remember from September 11th was not confined to a single morning.
07:36It was there in the members who moved toward the World Trade Center while thousands of people
07:41were desperately trying to escape.
07:43It remained in those who returned to Ground Zero afterward, even while they were grieving
07:48friends and colleagues of their own.
07:50They kept working while families waited for answers, and a devastated city depended on them.
07:56That service came at a terrible cost.
07:59And today, these names ask something of us in return.
08:03They ask us to remember these men and women as more than names or numbers from one of the
08:08darkest chapters in our city's history, to preserve who they were and the extraordinary
08:14standard of service they left to those who followed them.
08:18That responsibility becomes more important with every passing year.
08:23Most police officers spend roughly 20 to 25 years on this job.
08:27A quarter century after September 11th, the vast majority of the uniformed members who served
08:33that day have now retired.
08:36Thousands of people serving the NYPD today were children on September 11th, and many had not
08:42yet even been born.
08:43We are fortunate, however, that members of the generation that led and served this department
08:49through September 11th are among us, including a number of senior leaders who continue to guide
08:56the NYPD today, some of whom have battled nine-related illnesses themselves.
09:02We should hear this story directly from them and benefit from the experience they continue
09:07to bring to this department.
09:09That is why, after I finish, you will hear from our chief of department, Mike LaPetri.
09:14There are things a memorial can teach us, and there are things that can only be passed from
09:19one generation to another by the people who were there.
09:23Their memories are part of the living history of this department, and preserving them is every
09:28bit as important as preserving the names before us.
09:31And I want to recognize the people who understood the importance of creating something worthy of
09:36that responsibility.
09:37This project was made possible through the generosity of the New York City Police Foundation and the
09:43extraordinary personal commitment of Ken Griffin.
09:46This wall will ensure that generations who have no memory of September 11th will still understand
09:52what that day revealed about this department, the courage of those who responded, the magnitude
09:58of what they gave, and the responsibility their example places on everyone who follows them.
10:04That is an inheritance worthy of protecting.
10:08Twenty-five years from now, the faces in this building will be different, but these names will
10:13still be here, and the example of the men and women behind them will continue to shape the
10:18department they gave so much to serve.
10:22To every family represented here today, we will make sure the generations that follow understand
10:27who your loved ones were, and what they gave to New York City.
10:31Their sacrifice is forever a part of this department, and their memory will always have a home here.
10:38May their memories be an eternal blessing, and may we always be worthy of the example that
10:44they left behind.
10:45God bless you all.
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