It was just an ordinary day; until it wasn’t.
Today, the Ocean County Board of Commissioners held its annual Day of Remembrance Ceremony at the County’s Sept. 11 monument on Hooper Avenue, Toms River. Joining the Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Barbara Jo Crea in placing the wreath at the monument were Deputy Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Gary Quinn, Commissioner Frank Sadeghi and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. A second wreath was placed at the War on Terror monument honoring veterans who died while defending our freedoms in the days following Sept. 11, 2001. Retired Lt. Colonel Brian McCarthy, of the 177th Maintenance Group, along with Phil Zimmerman, U.S. Navy veteran and Ocean County Veterans Services Bureau Director assisted in the laying of the wreath. Also participating in the ceremony were the Ocean County Vocational Technical School’s Performing Arts Academy Choir under the direction of Mary Kenny, the Rev. Peter Hartney, providing words of comfort and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Color Guard. The annual event brings together Ocean County Government staff, emergency responders, and the public as we honor the memory of all those who tragically died on Sept. 11, 2001 and we pledge always to remember how the events of that day changed us forever.
