On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, American Legion Post 2000 member Daniel Diefenderfer had just finished a stint in the U.S. Army and was in the process of moving with his family from Fort Bragg, N.C. back home to Pennsylvania. But it would be a short trip. Shortly before 9 a.m., 19 men from Saudi Arabia hijacked four commercial airliners and used them to kill nearly 3,000 people in the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Veteran Dan Diefenderfer, center, joins others in standing for the national anthem during Loveland’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Hammond Amphitheater in North Lake Park on Thursday.(Jocelyn Rowley/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

“I got a phone call telling me I had to come back,” Diefenderfer remembered. “So I had to leave my family.”

Uncertain what the shocking events of that day might mean, Diefenderfer confessed that he “hauled butt” back to the base and even got a little help along the way.

“I got pulled over by a state trooper, and he said, ‘Where you going?’” Diefenderfer recalled. “I showed him my military ID, and he said, ‘How fast can your car go?’ I told him, ‘I have no idea.’ Then he said, ‘Well, just follow me.’”

Back in Fort Bragg, Diefenderfer spent a few tense weeks waiting to learn what his future might hold before medical issues prompted him to end his service permanently.

But by that time, there were plenty of new recruits ready to take his place.

“A lot of Americans stood up and signed up,” he said.

On Thursday, Diefenderfer stood with a solemn crowd at Hammond Amphitheater in North Lake Park to honor the lives lost 24 years ago and the sacrifices made in the wake of that day.

“We are here tonight to remember the fellow Americans and first responders lost because of heinous acts on September 11 and in our military afterwards,” said Tony Abbott, who led the event for American Legion Post 2000.

The ceremony’s featured speaker was Thompson Valley Emergency Services Battalion Chief Cheryl Feyen, a 34-year veteran of the agency. On Sept. 11, 2001, she was enjoying a rare morning off-duty when the horrifying news of the attacks began to pour in.

“As a paramedic, I couldn’t help but think of first responders — firefighters, police officers, EMTs and paramedics who ran towards the danger as they climbed the towers,” she recalled. “They carried equipment, they wrapped wounds, they comforted the injured and the terrified. Many never came home.”

Thompson Valley EMS Battalion Chief Cheryl Feyen speaks during Loveland’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Hammond Amphitheater in North Lake Park on Thursday. Behind her are American Legion members Tony Abbott (left) and Robb Smith. (Jocelyn Rowley/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

Feyen also spoke of the deep bond between the first responders at TVEMS and firefighters at Loveland Fire Rescue Authority, which only grew deeper after the terrorist attacks.

“Though our uniforms were different, we were bound as brothers and sisters,” she said. “That sense of family and of unity was one of the most profound lessons of 9/11 and it continues to guide me.”

Though she sounded a cautionary note about the division and anger she often sees on the job, Feyen ended her remarks on a hopeful note about Americans coming together and ensuring the sacrifices of Sept. 11 are not in vain.

“Tonight, I carry with me the memories of that day — the silence of the skies, the face of the fallen, the bravery of the first responders who ran into the unknown,” she said. “Their legacy calls us not to despair, but to action, to live with empathy, to serve one another, to heal our communities, not tear them apart.”

Following Feyen, Abbott spoke about the heavy toll 9/11 took on first responders, not just on the day of the attacks, but in the decades after.

“In the 24 years since, 400 (New York firefighters) have died from World Trade Center related illnesses,” he said. “There were 39 deaths since last year’s 9-11 anniversary.”

After the ceremony, Abbott, an army veteran and former Loveland volunteer firefighter, said he has a hard time holding back his emotions when talking about the attacks and their aftermath.

“You can hear my voice break when I’m talking,” he said. “That’s because it struck home. And for a lot of the guys, the veterans and others that are here, it strikes home.”

This was the 10th year for the event, which has traditionally been held at Foote Lagoon in Civic Center Park, but was moved this year due to construction. Among those in attendance on Thursday were Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, whose wife Cheryl delivered the keynote, and Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally.

They were joined by Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Chief Tim Sendelbach, Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran and Thompson Valley EMS Chief James Robinson, along with officers, firefighters and paramedics from each agency.

The ceremony closed with a silver bell tolled nine times by LFRA Battalion Chief Mark Lyons and engineer Paul Brown, a tribute to the first responders lost on 9/11. Members of the Marine Corps League followed with a 21-gun salute, before the sound of a bugle playing “Taps” and a lone bagpiper’s “Amazing Grace” carried across the park.

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