09/11/2026
25 years later, we remember. 🇺🇸
Today, members of the Centre Hall Fire Company had the privilege of attending a deeply moving 9/11 memorial at Haky-Georgiana Funeral Home in State College.
As people arrived, our Truck 4 stood proudly with the American flag flying high—a powerful and especially meaningful sight.
There is a special connection to that truck that makes today even more significant. The truck we brought to the memorial was purchased two years ago in Hyde Park, New York, from a fire station that lost one of its own members on September 11, 2001.
So as that truck stood there today, proudly displaying the American flag, it carried with it more than just a flag. It carried a piece of history. It carried the memory of a firefighter who made the ultimate sacrifice and the story of a fire station that will forever remember one of its own. Twenty-five years may have passed, but September 11 is not history—it is a memory that remains very much alive.
Today, as the bagpipes played. we remembered the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost. We remembered a hometown hero, Navy Lt. Jonas Panik from Bellefonte. Jonas died in the Pentagon. We remembered the firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, and countless others who ran toward danger.We remembered the families who never got to say goodbye.We remembered the heroes whose names and sacrifices must never be forgotten.
And we remembered the firefighters who left their stations that morning, not knowing they would never return.
25 years later, we still remember. We still honor. We still fly the flag. And we will NEVER forget. 🇺🇸
Write up and photos courtesy of Kim Domin