Ceremony downsizes, but not memories of 9/11

Southern Nevada is quietly remembering the sacrifices of 9/11.

Clark County, for the first time, is opting to have a scaled-down memorial service Friday that seeks to preserve the solemness of the occasion. It comes amid dwindling participation in past memorials.

The county Fire Department's event at a park will be a far cry from past years when hundreds flocked to the amphitheater of the Government Center. It's part of an annual rotation of 9/11 events involving the county, Metropolitan Police Department and the Las Vegas Fire Department.

The memorial will be a small but telling sign that 9/11 is fading from the headlines and being written into the history books. The event, which local police and fire departments involved, will start at 6:55 a.m. at Firefighters Memorial Park, 6401 W. Oakey Blvd. An honor guard and fire engines will line up, bells will ring and flags will be lowered to half-staff. And that will be it.

It's been 14 years since hijacked jets slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing almost 3,000 people. The collapse of the towers killed 343 firefighters.

In the initial years after 9/11, thousands flocked to large memorials across the United States. It was a different era. The hunt for terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden was on, and the U.S. declared a war against terrorism that took soldiers to Afghanistan and then Iraq . A wave of patriotism swept the nation.

County Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Buchanan graduated from a fire academy two days after 9/11, starting his firefighting career in North Las Vegas.

"We will always remember," Buchanan said. "We can never forget 9/11. When I'm 65 years old, I'll remember 9/11. ... It's really about what we live and remember every single day."

Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department, said attendance at memorial events started to drop after about the fifth year.

"There was more people putting it on than people coming to see the service," he said. "It really has dwindled over the years."

To be sure, 9/11 will remain a part of firefighters' ethos for years to come. Firefighters who served during 9/11 are still on the job, working alongside many who joined the ranks in the past 14 years.

A piece of the wreckage from the World Trade Center sits outside Las Vegas Fire Station #5, a silent tribute to the sacrifices.

Stickers commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 were put on city fire trucks. Four years later, they're still on the trucks.

The chapter is unwritten for how future generations will remember 9/11.

In the 19th century, the generations that remembered the Civil War commemorated the day the war ended. That faded over time.

But future generations still remember landmark years like the centennial or the 150th anniversary, which came this year, said Michael Green, an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Remembrances can change over time. Armistice Day, for example, celebrated the 1918 end of fighting for World War I. It was transformed into Veterans Day in 1954.

"In terms of Sept. 11, obviously, we're never going to forget," Green said. "But we also would say we'll never forget World War I. How many people who lived during World War I are still among us?"

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1