South Lake Tahoe 9/11 ceremony honors first responders and military

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was on this day in 2001 when a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States left 2,996 people dead, over 6,000 injured and causing at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage.

South Lake Tahoe joined communities around the country in honoring those who jumped in to rescue the survivors and joined in the fight against terrorism. At the American Legion, firefighters, police officers, veterans and community members gathered for a ceremony hosted by members of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary.

"Being first responders is inherently dangerous," said Post Commander John Ligar as he started off the remembrance after singing of the national anthem. He was followed by SLT Mayor Brooke Laine and legion chaplains.

Striking the Four Fives was done by SLT Battalion Chief Jim Drennan. The New York Fire service is rich with ceremony, custom, and tradition. As early as the mid-1800s, bells at fire stations were rung to summoned members to the station, signal the beginning of a shift, notify departments of a call for help, and indicate a call was completed and the unit had returned to the station. Each different type of alarm or announcement would have its own number and series of bell strikes. When a firefighter died in the line of duty or when some important official or personage died, headquarters would transmit five bell strikes, repeated in four series, with a slight pause between each series, followed by the announcement. This was done in 1865 to inform the rank and file of the death of President Abraham Lincoln. The custom has continued down to the present day.

"The signal 5-5-5-5 has been transmitted. It is with regret that we announce
the deaths of these faithful servants who we gather here today to memorialize."

Two South Lake Tahoe residents who were in Washington, D.C. on that fateful day were are the American Legion ceremony. Duane and Tami Wallace were shaking the hand of California Congressman John Doolittle when a second airplane hit the next tower of the World Trade Center.

Duane said the experience was unreal with planes in the sky, armed men and women at every rooftop, people stopping their cars and running away on the streets, and seeing the black smoke from the Pentagon. It took them a week to get home as all flights were canceled across the United States. A group of doctors at their hotel all bought new cars to get to their hometowns. He and Tami hopscotched their way across the country once planes were allowed to fly.