Monticello commemorates 9/11

People of goodwill everywhere united behind the cause of America”

Sullivan County Historian John Conway

MONTICELLO, NY — On September 11, 2026, the Monticello Fire Department held a memorial service for 343 firefighters and numerous other first responders who died because of the September 11, 2001 attacks on The World Trade Center in New York City.

The ceremony took place at the Monticello firehouse, and consisted of a wreath laying, a ceremonial ringing of a bell to honor the fallen and a keynote address by Sullivan County Historian John Conway.

In his address, Conway addressed the horrific tragedy, but said that this was not going to be his focus. He said he’d “rather talk instead about something that happened after those attacks.”

“It involved first the first responders who were on the scene and who were manning hospitals and trauma centers and all sorts of other places where people sought refuge after the attacks. It was something that was nothing short of miraculous, as Americans from everywhere throughout the country put aside their political differences, put aside their regional differences, and were united in a spirit of solidarity and a singularity of purpose,” Conway said.

Conway then went into the history of the region, saying that America has always been a divided nation. Conway quoted poet Emma Wheeler Wilcox, who categorized people as those who lift, meaning they work to uplift those around them, and those who lean, those who rely on the lifters. Conway said that after 9/11 America, and the whole world, became lifters.

“Governor Pataki at the time said that on that day all Americans united. He said the nation became a neighborhood, and all Americans became New Yorkers. But it was true throughout much of the world,” Conway said. “People of goodwill everywhere united behind the cause of America…following the 9/11 attacks, there was a unanimous vote in the United Nations to condemn those attacks.” 

In closing, Conway suggested that in memory of 9/11, Americans can work together to find that spirit of unity once again.

“I'd like to suggest that as we contemplate the events of 9/11, we remember the unity, the singularity of purpose that permeated the country following those attacks,” Conway said. “With a little effort and determination, I think we can recapture that spirit.”