By CHRISTIAN SILVIA

Warwick hosted its annual memorial for the victims of the September 11th attacks at Oakland Beach. Speakers included survivors of the attack and NBC 10 anchor Gene Valicenti, who spoke about the experiences of journalists that day.

The remembrance, attended by about 100 people, began at 10:28 a.m., the exact time the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed 23 years ago.

Mayor Frank Picozzi, who was with the School Committee at the time, recalled the events of the morning; the shock he and the late Superintendent of Warwick Bob Shapiro felt, and how his mind went to his family. He also recalled what he described as “the great sound of patriotism” the following day.

“September 11th, 2001 was one of the darkest days in our nation's history,” Picozzi said. “But September 12th, 2001 was one of our brightest hours.”

Councilwoman Donna Travis recalled the vision to construct a memorial garden.

She remembered a conversation with Tom Issaco, who with two friends initiated the drive to build the memorial years soon after the tragedy. 

She quoted Issaco, “‘Did you think 23 years later, we would be gathering like this?’ and he said ‘No, I didn’t.”

Travis referred to journalists as the unsung heroes of that day before introducing Valicenti to share his experiences covering the story.

“It's a beautiful day, and I know most of you remember the weather was beautiful that day,” Valicenti said.

He recalled waking up to a phone call that a plane had just hit the tower. At first he imagined it was a small plane. Once the second plane hit, he, along with everyone else in America, was aware that this was no accident and no small plane.

When he arrived at the newsroom, he saw the second tower fall and decided to drive down to New York as the NBC 4 affiliate needed people to report for Channel 10.

“I’ll tell you what I do remember, sloshing through knee-high ashes,” he said. “Nothing survived the crushing force of the tower. Except paper.”

Valicenti talked about the neighboring areas the news team covered including LaGuardia Airport, which was a mess due to flights being grounded, churches that were holding emergency masses and a street gathering where thousands came just to be part of something.

He told of riding into Ground Zero with the Providence Canteen, while reiterating that there were a lot of good Rhode Islanders serving in New York.

Former Warwick School Committee member Judy Cobden, who was working at the American Stock Exchange on Wall Street, told of her experiences during and after the attacks.

“First they called us into meetings. They had FEMA come in and assure us that it was fine to be working,” Cobden said. “As we now know, it wasn’t safe.”

Cobden mentioned more unsung heroes, including the people who were at Ground Zero for days. She talked about a friend Steven, who died due to health complications from being on Ground Zero.

Family members of the deceased also attended the ceremony, including Ronnie Tetreault, brother of Renee Tetreault Newell, who passed away on American Flight 11 out of Boston.

“What disappoints me is each year it becomes less and less,” Tetreault said in reference to the attacks falling out of the public consciousness in his opinion. “This platform here has been getting bigger and bigger every year, and I love to see this.”

Tetreault said he liked seeing young kids at these events as they got to learn about an event that affected the people of their community.

At the end of the ceremony, the fourth-grade student choir of St. Kevin Elementary School sang ‘God Bless America,’ following a performance of taps.