9-11 Never Forget

It was a clear September morning when two planes struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. New Yorkers and everyone watching on television saw the buildings engulfed in flames. Some people trapped near the flames leapt to their death. One and then the other tower collapsed which destroyed or damaged buildings all around it.

Firefighters on the scene in the stairwells and the emergency workers on the ground were killed. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, while another went down in a Pennsylvania field near Shanksville. Planes were grounded all over the country. Very quickly, the hijackers were linked to Al-Qaeda. Over 3,000 people died that day, and 145 were from Monmouth County.

First Responders at ground zero (9-11 Memorial)

Ted Brennan III, 37 was working for Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower when it was hit. He had escaped the 1993 bombing by running down 105 flights in 20 minutes. This time there was no escape for Ted, an institutional trader who loved Sea Girt and golf.

Thomas Cahill lived in Franklin Lakes but summered in Sea Girt. He was also a Cantor Fitzgerald employee on the 104th floor.

William Matheson, 40 of Morris and a summer resident, was also killed in the attacks.

Charles Mathers 61, was working at Marsh Power in One World Trade. He was a Sea Girt Fireman from 1975 and a Lt. and former President of the Fire Company.

All of the victims were listed as missing for months, extending the heartbreak and stress on families.

The memorials and remembrances have kept these people in our thoughts. At ground zero, each year the victims’ names are read out. In 2013, a memorial of steel from the World Trade Center was installed outside Borough Hall, commemorating the event and the Sea Girt victims. In 2021, on the 20th anniversary, the community met on the beach and lit the sky in a moving ceremony. In 2024, Sea Girt unveiled its new Memorial Plaza where a special monument to the Sea Girter’s lost in 9-11 are honored.