Manatee County pays tribute to lost lives on Sept. 11, 2001
MANATEE -- Sometimes, Dianne Spence thinks she's living on borrowed time.
When the retired New York Police Department detective reads the New York-based papers, every now and then she'll see an article about a Sept. 11, 2001 first responder or survivor who has died from smoke inhalation.
"There are times when I take a breath and I still smell that smell," Spence said during the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota 9/11 ceremony at the 26th Street West Campus.
It was the first time Spence has publicly spoken about her experiences 14 years ago. The SCF ceremony was one of about a half-dozen Friday in Manatee County, including a ceremony for first-responders at the Bradenton Riverwalk.
As a narcotics detective working in the south Bronx at the time, that day was supposed to be a quiet one, she said. She was slated to work a night shift, catching up on paperwork and preparing for upcoming trials. When she turned on the TV to get dressed, her plans changed.
Spence arrived at the site now known as Ground Zero and immediately began assisting in the rescue mission. But after a few days, rescue turned to recovery. Spence spent five days onsite, before returning home for two days. Then her assignment switched to Staten Island, to sift through the rubble that had been carted out of Manhattan.
Two years ago, Spence visited the 9/11 memorial in New York, and vowed to never go back.
"The memories are too
painful," she said.
Now, Spence works as the school resource officer for the charter school run on the SCF campus. Many of the students are far too young to understand the events that happened 14 years ago. But Spence said she's thankful she works somewhere that continues to remember the events of 9/11.
Randy Kennedy, a U.S. Army veteran and the head of SCF's veteran club on campus, returned to a speech given in 2003 on Friday, since the thoughts and feelings are still pertinent now.
"These ceremonies are today and always will be both a remembrance and tribute to the living and the dead," he said.
And while it's a somber occasion, both Spence and Kennedy said good things came out of 9/11, with Spence recalling the first responders from all over the country arriving at the scene within hours. Kennedy echoed that sentiment.
"They taught us through their actions that day what it means to be human," he said.
The SCF ceremony included a prayer from the Rev. Bryan O'Carroll, of St. George's Episcopal Church and the SCF chaplain. Choked up during his prayer, O'Carroll said thinking about those who lost their lives is painful to this day.
"There simply are no words," he said.
At the Bradenton Riverwalk, Manatee County first responders, officials and members of the community gathered to pay tribute to those lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
After 14 years of tributes, Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston said it is important to keep the memory alive.
"It's really when our country got attacked on our own soil and that's the hard thing for everybody to get their head around," Poston said.
Those who lost their lives that day need to be remembered, he added.
"Those firemen, those responders that went into the twin towers, they knew they weren't coming out but they went in anyway for a chance that they could help somebody else, save somebody else," Poston said.
"That's what America's about, everybody helping everybody."
Bradenton resident Tammie Smith, like most people, still remembered where she was on 9/11.
"I was at work, and I think everybody came to a standstill," Smith said.
Bradenton police crime specialist Scottie Camacho was among the dozens of first responders in attendance. She, like many, was in her daily uniform.
"If we don't tell our next generation, it will get lost and it's our history," Camacho said.
After a group photo, Manatee Technical College Fire Academy student Evan Moore reflected before the Manatee County First Responder's monument.
Moore, who plans to one day be a firefighter, felt a duty in paying tribute Friday.
"It's something that I feel I have to do, to honor the firefighters who gave their lives that day trying to save others," Moore said. "And it's an honor to be here."
Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County pays tribute to lost lives on Sept. 11, 2001 ."