Andover Fire Dept/FacebookDuring a tribute and remembrance service for those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a bald eagle landed at a ceremony in Minnesota in a symbolic and moving moment.
The Andover Fire Department was using two of their trucks to display an American flag over the highway on the outskirts of Minneapolis when the eagle landed yesterday morning, Tuesday, September 11.
The bald eagle calmly perched on the extended ladder of one of the trucks, watching the firemen as they put up a banner which read ‘We will never forget’.
The moment was captured by Fire Chief Jerry Streich, who commented ‘Isn’t that unbelievable’.
You can watch it here:
An eagle landing on the Aerial truck during our 9/11 display! Media: Please feel free to use and share. The video was captured by Fire Chief Jerry Streich, Andover Fire Department #ATeam**This was a Facebook Live video. **At 9:00 PM there were over 3.9 Million views. Thanks for sharing! What could be more symbolic for this day? AND on a fire truck.
Posted by Andover Fire Department, MN on Tuesday, 11 September 2018
The touching moment was shared on Andover Fire Department’s Facebook page, where it has so far attracted more than two million views. Along with the video, they wrote ‘What could be more symbolic for this day?’
One viewer commented:
That’s our hero’s coming down to see us [sic]
Another said:
It gives me chills watching this !!
While another added:
A sign for sure .. thank you to the Andover Fire Dept .. Americans needed to see this.
Andover Fire Dept/FacebookTributes to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks were made across the country yesterday.
President Donald Trump visited the site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed. Trump saluted the heroic efforts of the passengers and crew onboard who fought the hijackers and managed to bring the plane down before it reached its intended target in Washington DC.
Vice President Mike Pence visited the Pentagon in northern Virginia, where he paid tribute both to the men and women who lost their lives and those who helped save so many others.
In lower Manhattan, New York, thousands gathered at the memorial site of Ground Zero. Moments of silence were held at 8.46am and 9.03am, local time, to mark the exact moments the two planes hit the twin towers.
Director of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, Alice Greenwald said, as per MailOnline:
It is not a day to give speeches, it is not a day to talk about politics. It’s about the heart.
We need to stand together, that’s the only way we can deal with that kind of pain.
At the service, relatives of those who died in the attacks read out names of the thousands of victims, as has become tradition each year.
GettyAlmost 3,000 people were killed during the devastating events.
Among them, was Ray Meisenheimer, who worked as a fireman at Rescue 3 in the Bronx. Ray was killed as he went to give aid to the people of New York.
Ray’s daughter Kaitlynn told UNILAD about her dad and his heroic involvement on the day.
She said:
My dad was coming off shift when the call came in, he was wearing civilian clothes to go to his second job. Like so many others, he dropped what he was doing and jumped on the rig to do what he was born and trained to do; fight fires.
We received confirmation the evening of 9/11 rescue 3 was on the scene and were in fact in the south tower.
To honour her father and all those who gave their lives to save others, Kaitlynn decided to take part in the Tunnel to Towers 5k that is held in NYC.
Everyone who helped on that day did incredible work, and they will never be forgotten.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected].
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.