South Whitehall Township joined communities across the nation in commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a remembrance ceremony at Greenawalds Fire Department.

Fire Chief Andrew Garger served as master of ceremonies. The South Whitehall Township Honor Guard, made up of members of the township police and fire departments and the Cetronia Ambulance Corps, presented the colors, and firefighter Joanna Bertalan sang the national anthem.

A moment of silence was observed in memory of those killed in the attacks and in the 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001.

The ceremony also included a tolling of the bells using the traditional 5-5-5-5 signal, which denotes the death of a firefighter in the line of duty. Wreaths and flowers were placed at the township’s Sept. 11 memorial, which contains a piece of steel from one of the World Trade Center towers. South Whitehall Township employee Andy Weisner performed “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes. The keynote speaker was retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Yeager, a combat pilot and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Yeager began his military career as an enlisted airman and, through perseverance and hard work, earned a commission as an officer. Following flight school, he served as a weapons systems officer in the back seat of an Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle before later becoming a pilot, pilot trainer and adversary pilot in the Navy’s Top Gun program. Following Yeager’s remarks, former South Whitehall Township commissioner and Lehigh County commissioner Brad Osborne delivered a presentation titled “They Never Came Home,” honoring the 411 emergency responders who were killed when the North and South towers collapsed. Osborne noted that the death toll included 343 FDNY firefighters, 37 Port Authority police officers, 23 New York City police officers, and eight emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private services.