25 Years Later, Orleans Remembers Sept. 11

ORLEANS – Everyone has a story about Sept. 11, 2001.

Orleans Fire Chief Geof Deering, who at the time was just six months into his career with the department, watched the events of that day unfold from the department’s living quarters. Even today, 25 years after the attack on the World Trade Center, the smallest details ring clear, he said.

“I can still remember where the TV was,” he said.

Deering and the rest of the department, like others across the country and the world, followed the events of the day on television. 

“There were so many emotions,” he said. “It was very overwhelming. But one of the things I remember was when the towers collapsed, the dust, and think about how that’s going to have a long-term impact on all the people who are there. We’re still seeing that.”

Orleans Police Chief Scott MacDonald was similarly starting his shift as a junior patrolman when he saw footage of the attack on television in the old police station.

“I think initially there was a period of shock,” MacDonald said. “We were all trying to digest what just happened in our country. And then as law enforcement professionals, even in these small communities, we were on high alert. What will happen next? We just didn’t know. There were so many unknowns.”

On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, students, staff and town officials stood on the front lawn of Nauset Regional Middle School for the school’s annual observance of the fateful tragedy. For the school’s principal, Peter Cohen, the ceremony was an opportunity to educate students who only understand the attacks through the lens of history.

“Twenty-five years from now, some of you may be standing with your own children or your own students, explaining what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and why people stop to remember it,” he told students. “That is how history stays alive.”

MacDonald said years later, the lessons learned from the Sept. 11 attacks still reverberate. That includes the need to be ready for anything, however unlikely.

“Sometimes in the smaller communities, you think it’s not going to happen here,” MacDonald said. “But you never know. We’ve seen examples that have shown otherwise. So for me, it was a tragic experience that really underscored the need and the importance of always being prepared, and more importantly that our people, our police officers, are prepared.”

For Deering, the 25th anniversary of the attacks serves as an important reminder of the critical function police, fire and public safety personnel serve in communities far and wide. 

“I think it was motivation to do it more,” he said of his response to the attacks. “To see people in that circumstance continue to go in to do what they could, to help the people they could, all while knowing that they might not make it out. That’s a risk we all take, and that just put it out to the world that that’s what this work is about.”

And while there are many solemn memories associated with Sept. 11, this year’s anniversary also brought back some warm ones for the fire department, Deering said.

“What’s really neat today is just this morning, there have been a number of people who have come into the station and say thank you, or to bring baked goods. I was really surprised to see that. In the days immediately after [9/11] 25 years ago, it was very common. To see it again today has been really, really cool.”

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com