Richmond marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 with ceremony honoring first responders: 'A higher calling'

RICHMOND, Va. — Patriotic music welcomed a crowd at Dominion Energy in downtown Richmond Thursday, as first responders, veterans, Dominion employees and community leaders gathered to remember the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“Commemoration is not only about looking back," shared Adam Lee, Dominion Energy's chief security officer. "It’s about carrying forward the lessons of sacrifice, service and readiness."

Lee investigated the terrorist attacks as a member of the FBI's San Diego field office.

“9/11 was not only an attack on buildings and institutions, it was an attack on the American people, our way of life, and the hard-fought freedoms we enjoy in the United States," he noted.

Stanley Meador, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, responded to the Pentagon on 9/11, spending days sifting through debris for evidence.

"Almost 10 days after 9/11, I went to my coworkers and said we really need to file a notice of incident here because we’re all going to get sick from this," said Meador who later suffered stage 3 and 4 cancer from the effects of that day.

“At the time, my daughter was 2, and my wife was pregnant with twins," Meador explained.

He hopes people remember and thank veteran first responders who worked that September 11th day and those who have answered the call every day since.

"A firefighter doesn’t choose which fire they go to based on the size of the fire, and our military members don’t choose which assignments they get or which deployments they go on," he said. "They sign up with a willingness and a sacrifice to do the job because of a higher calling."

The remembrance ceremony also featured a memorial stair climb.