PBSC and community honor 9/11 heroes with remembrance ceremony

Palm Beach State College is the leading educator of first responders in Palm Beach County. To date, approximately 8,400 police officers, firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians have graduated from the College’s Public Safety programs.

To honor the first responders who served on the day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, PBSC and the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue (PBCFR) held a remembrance ceremony at the Duncan Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.

In her welcome address, Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Marino emphasized the importance of remembering the events of Sept. 11, 2001. She paid tribute to the lives lost and the bravery of the first responders who ran toward danger. “We need to remember the ordinary citizens who showed extraordinary courage that day,” Marino said. Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo delivered the keynote address, reflecting on the unity Americans displayed in the aftermath of the attacks. “We were one nation, indivisible, standing together,” Abruzzo said. 

He recalled citizens lining up to donate blood, neighborhoods draped in American flags and first responders working tirelessly through smoke and rubble. That same strength, he noted, lives on today in the selfless service of Palm Beach County’s first responders.

“It reminds us of what was taken from us, but it also reminds us of what can never be taken — our American resolve and spirit,” Abruzzo said.

Sarah Baxter, vice mayor of Palm Beach County, read a proclamation declaring Sept. 11, 2025, as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. She presented the proclamation to Thomas Rossi, a former fire marshal with the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), and Robert Unger, both of whom served as first responders in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Remembering heroes who went into burning buildings to save other peoples families and putting their own families at risk, there isn’t anything I can think of that’s more heroic than that,” Baxter said. 

Other members of the FDNY were also in attendance as well as State Rep. Debra Tendrich and members of the Board of County Commissioners. There was a presentation and posting of colors by the PBCFR Honor Guard Pipes and Drums, the tolling of the bell by Honor Guard Commander Steen Eriksson and the playing of taps by Honor Guard member Jorge Cardoso. The national anthem was sung by PBCFR Communicator Stacy Boddie.

In addition to the remembrance ceremony, PBSC Public Safety students, instructors, staff and PBSC's Women's Basketball team participated in a commemorative stair climb at the Public Safety Fire Tower at the Lake Worth campus to honor the first responders of 9/11. Participants climbed the tower 25 times, the equivalent of the number of stairs in the Twin Towers. The event also served as a fundraiser for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which supports the families of fallen first responders and military veterans.