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'Something we should never forget'
Ceremony marks 9/11 anniversary
911 bell ring
Forsyth County firefighters ring a bell three times, then four, then three more as they pause to remember the 343 firefighters killed on September 11. - photo by Jim Dean
Local and state politicians joined residents and public safety personnel Friday at the Forsyth County Public Safety Complex to honor those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Forsyth County Fire Chief Danny Bowman said the ceremony was kept “as brief as the moment when the towers dropped.”

A piece of a beam from one of the structures that crumbled in the attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center was on display at the complex.

Some who attended touched the beam and paused while the names of 343 firefighters who died at the center were read aloud.

Bowman said he asked for the beam, which came to Forsyth County in 2006.

“There was no monument to 9/11 in the Southeast and the New York Fire Department brought it to us,” he said.

The event included a three-gun salute by Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputies and poetry honoring those who died while trying to rescue others.

Steve Cseh brought his family to the ceremony. The Forsyth County resident said they honor 9/11 every year. He and his wife want their children to remember it.

“I find that 9/11 is something we should never forget,” Cseh said. “I’m very surprised, in a positive way, that Forsyth County chooses to honor 9/11.”

Charles Laughinghouse, chairman of the Forsyth County commission, said the ceremony was “moving and very touching.”

Laughinghouse said he thinks he has attended every ceremony the county has had honoring the day.

“It’s the least I can do to show my respect,” he said.

In a separate event Friday afternoon, volunteers with Hands on Forsyth participated in a silverware wrap and card-writing activity for military personnel.

The project was part of a National Day of Service and Remembrance effort.