Macon-Bibb marks 25 years since 9/11 with downtown remembrance ceremony

Local leaders honored nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks as a retired NYPD detective shared his experience responding at Ground Zero.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Twenty-five years may have passed, but for many, the memories of September 11 are still fresh.

At a remembrance ceremony in downtown Macon Friday, local leaders honored the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller says the community has a responsibility to keep their memories alive.

“We have one of our local heroes here, Macon’s Cole Hogan, who died at the Pentagon on that horrific day,” Miller said. “And many people that continue to die suffering from causes that were related to that, so we’re gonna do our part in Macon-Bibb County to always remember those, to always lift them up and their families up in prayer.”

After the ceremony, attendees met Darrel Hughes, a retired New York Police Department detective who worked as a first responder at Ground Zero following the attacks.

“I was there from the collapse of the towers until January 15, 2002, which was my son’s seventh birthday, and the day that I made up my mind that I had seen enough and I was gonna retire when I reached my anniversary date, which is what I did,” he said.

After retiring from the NYPD, Hughes moved to Georgia.

Hughes said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 and has dealt with other illnesses. He is now in remission.

“Every day that I wake up I’m blessed, every day that I wake up cancer free is a double blessing,” he said.

Hughes’ connection to public safety continues through his son, who serves as a Bibb County Sheriff’s deputy.

The remembrance ceremony honored the lives lost on September 11 and the first responders who risked their lives to help others.