At a Patriots Day ceremony that started precisely at 8:45 a.m., the time the first hijacked jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center 13 years ago, AMVETS Post 101 paid special tribute to the area's first responders. “First responders are the ones who make sure we as a community remain safe,” said Jean Reeves, of the post.

Roanoke Rapids City Manager Joseph Scherer told the audience events like today's are a way to “make sure each and everyone is not forgotten.”

“In a county such as ours, we depend so much on our volunteers,” Reeves said.

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Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp gave the keynote address. “Today we recall and we celebrate what we learned about ourselves on September 11, 2001. We recall and we celebrate how we acted that day. We remember once again how ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives, reacted with extraordinary heroism when, without warning and in an instant, they were thrown face-to-face with the most fundamental questions of human existence.”

Tripp said 13 years ago was a day where “ordinary people chose duty in the face of death as the security guards in the World Trade Center continued to help people out even as most of the buildings were collapsing around them.”

The passengers of the hijacked plane over Pennsylvania, he said, “Refused to allow the hijackers to succeed. We saw ordinary people choosing to spend their final moments expressing their love to their families.”

Tripp delivers the keynote address.

Those people, Tripp said, set an example for the survivors. “They taught us through their actions that day what it means to be human. They showed us the immutable value of duty, loyalty, self-sacrifice love. The only way we will triumph over terrorism and conquer the senseless tragedy of that horrible day is by celebrating the kindness of the human spirit.”