Photo exhibit commemorates tragedy and heroism of 9-11

The 9-11 photo exhibit at the shopping mall in Pentagon City.

On the 20th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, leaders of Northern Virginia fire departments came together to remember the lives lost and the heroism of the first responders on that tragic day. 

They spoke at the opening reception for an exhibit of photos, “Still Standing – Still Free,” taken at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The exhibit is at the Fashion Center at Pentagon City, 1200 S. Hayes St., in Arlington. It will be up through Oct. 11 in the lower level of the mall. 

Rep. Gerry Connolly offers reflections on the 9-11 attacks.

The exhibit features historic photos, some never before seen, taken by local photographers Sean Kelley, Joe Pisciotta, and Bob Pugh.  The photos are for sale, with the net proceeds benefiting the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation.      

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9-11, including 184 when terrorists crashed a plane into the Pentagon. 

A photo in the exhibit by Joe Pisciotta.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, who was then a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, recalled the perfect, sunny weather on that fateful day. “That juxtaposition of beauty and horror stayed with me,” he said. It was a reminder that “our fellow human beings do horrible things – and also heroic things.” 

For a brief moment following the tragedy, the nation came together in a spirit of communion, Connolly said. “We understood what it meant to be an American.” 

John Butler, chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.

That spirit of goodwill didn’t last, however. Now that the COVID pandemic has claimed 650,000 American lives, Connolly said, “wearing a mask and getting a vaccine have become political acts.”

“At this pivotal moment as Americans, can we overcome our political differences? When it matters, I believe we can come together again,” he said. 

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Chief John Butler was a paramedic in Howard County, Md., on Sept. 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks happened here but the impact rippled across the globe, he said, reminding the audience to also remember the Americans who died in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20 years.  

A photo of the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, by Bob Pugh.

“We’ll never be just firefighters or EMTs again,” said D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly. “Whenever we’re called out on an assignment, we’ll always think, what if it’s another terrorist attack?” Other speakers included leaders of the Arlington, Alexandria, and Ft. Meyer fire departments and the Arlington County Police Department. 

In one positive outcome from the 9-11 tragedy, noted moderator Dave Statter, “we all worked together as one,” and that led to the development of a regional response to major events.