SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A somber ceremony was held on the flight deck of the USS Midway Monday afternoon to mark the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The FDNY Retirees of San Diego, the USS Midway Museum, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and others hosted the event.
Anthony Cuomo is a retired FDNY medic living in Riverside County. He was at a union meeting in the Bronx when the first plane slammed into the World Trade Center.
"We were sent in. It started to collapse. We came back. Again, we started to go in again, and the other building came down," said Cuomo.
Cuomo says he'll always remember the sound and the smell.
" I can always remember the burning smell and the sound of all the building alarms," said Cuomo.
Two years later, Cuomo's life was forever changed yet again on September 11.
His reserve unit was activated, and he was assigned to the Marines. He served as a Navy Corpsman when he was severely wounded in an explosion in Iraq.
He ended up at San Diego Naval Hospital. Cuomo is now retired and living in Riverside County.
He says the men and women he worked with in NYC are now scattered around the country.
"It's a hard day," said Cuomo.
Cuomo hopes the passage of time will not erase the sacrifice made by so many.
"No matter what you think about what happened or what you think the cause of 9/11 was, there's a lot of stories going on, but remember the people lost. That's what you have to remember," said Cuomo.
