News

25 years later, county pays tribute to Sept. 11 victims

By Bill Moss, Published: September 11, 2026

In Missouri, young people can’t become a certified firefighter until they’re 18 years old.

“I turned 18 on Sept. 8, 2001, so I was at the fire department at 7 o’clock in the morning and submitted and signed all the official paperwork to become a firefighter on Sept. 11, before anything ever happened,” said Glen Gillette, Henderson County’s fire marshal.

The new recruit then headed to class, and soon saw images of the attack unfolding in New York.

“And although I grew up in the fire service, that day instilled the lifelong commitment to serve those around me, (and honor) the commitment, the lives lost. When we say ‘never forget’ — we do always remember, and we should carry that spirit and that desire to serve with us in all that we do. “Whether as an emergency services responder, we go pick up someone who fell, or we run into a burning building, or we’re delivering life-saving medication. No matter what it is, just to do it with that true service.”

Gillette was speaking Friday morning at the county’s annual Reverence, Remembrance, Reflection service at the Historic Courthouse, where dozens of police, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics congregated to pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and honor the hundreds of first responders who died in rescue efforts.

Hendersonville Fire Chief Justin Ward said the loss in the fire service that day 25 years ago is impossible to fathom.

“We always worry about our crews, but that day, putting yourself in that chief’s shoes — I couldn’t imagine coming to work and losing 343 of your members,” he said. “It’s bad enough losing one, I couldn’t imagine losing that many folks.”

Neither a kindergartner nor a recent college graduate has a living memory of Sept. 11.

“I was in high school when this day happened, but now I’ve got kids that are learning about it in textbooks, and they have no idea,” he said. “So explaining to the next generation exactly what happened and how big of a sacrifice and how monumental this was in the history of America — this really is important.”