Mountain Home, Ark. — On Monday, residents of Mountain Home and surrounding communities came together at the Mountain Home Plaza to reflect on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Nearly 25 years after the tragic events, attendees honored the victims and first responders, united in remembrance.

The gathering took place within sight of a local 9/11 memorial, completed in 2022, which features a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center. The monument also includes representations of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Flight 93.

“I want us to remember here,” said Tommy Feliccia, an engineer with the Mountain Home Fire Department. Feliccia, whose family members served in the New York City Fire Department, emphasized the memorial's purpose in preserving the memory of the attacks. “You’ll come out here on any given day. There might be flowers, there might be flags on it. Everybody has their own version of 9/11 and how they remember it. But I think they come here and kind of find peace.”

John Ceriello, formerly of the FDNY’s Rescue Company 1, shared his personal recollections from 9/11. Off-duty at the time of the attacks, Ceriello described racing to Lower Manhattan on his bicycle after seeing the initial news reports. “When I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, something let go in the building—a massive explosion. I didn’t know it was a second plane… but I felt the concussion. I just said, 'Oh man, this is a major disaster,’” Ceriello said.

Other attendees shared how they learned about the attacks. Chris Holm, who was working in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, shop on 9/11, recounted seeing live footage of the second plane striking the South Tower. “It took a few minutes to kind of understand what I’d just seen,” Holm recalled.

Such vivid recollections fuel the mission of gatherings like this, organizers said: to ensure future generations understand and remember the significance of that day. Holm expressed hope that events and education will help young people today learn about 9/11 in the same way earlier generations came to understand Pearl Harbor.

Feliccia agreed, emphasizing the importance of keeping the memory alive. “Most kids now, these days, that’s how they know 9/11—through reading,” he said. “Something to just keep remembering so history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Across the nation, communities continue to hold local tributes year after year, united by the shared promise: Never forget.