Reporter: Emily Young
•9/11/2026
CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, people across Southwest Florida gathered Thursday to remember the lives lost and reflect on the events that changed the country forever.
In Cape Coral, a memorial ceremony was held at City Hall, where community members came together to honor the 2,977 people killed in the attacks.
The ceremony began with a performance by the Oasis High School Choir, followed by the presentation of colors by the Cape Coral Fire and Police Honor Guards.
Then came a powerful tribute: 2,977 flags were planted across the lawn of City Hall, each one bearing the name of someone who died on September 11, 2001.
Among those attending was retired FDNY firefighter Rich Bailey, who was a first responder at Ground Zero and worked at the site for months following the attacks.
Bailey said the memories of that time remain vivid — but so does something else: the sense of unity he saw across the country in the days and weeks afterward.
“Those days afterwards … it didn’t matter,” Bailey said, recalling people standing along the streets in the early morning hours, sometimes in the rain, holding signs thanking first responders.
Bailey said he wishes the country could return to the sense of togetherness people felt after the attacks.
The ceremony also brought together people with very different connections to Sept. 11.
Some were living in New York at the time. Others were first responders who worked at Ground Zero. Some were already living in Southwest Florida when the attacks happened.
And a younger generation was there, too — people who were not yet born when the Twin Towers fell.
For those who remember that morning, the memories remain remarkably specific: where they were, who they were with and the moment they realized the country was under attack.
Twenty-five years later, those memories continue to be passed down.
For Bailey, that may be one of the few silver linings.
People are still showing up, and they are still remembering.
