09/12/2026
September 11, 2001.
There are some dates that you never forget.
You remember where you were. You remember what you were doing. You remember watching the news and realizing that our country had changed forever.
25 years later, the pain of that day is still felt by so many families.
We remember the mothers and fathers who never came home. The husbands and wives who lost their best friend. The children who grew up without their mom or dad. The families who were waiting for a phone call, a knock on the door, or simply hoping their loved one would walk through the door again.
And we remember the firefighters.
343 firefighters answered the call that morning. They walked into those buildings to save people, knowing there was danger, but never knowing they were walking into their final call.
They didn’t know it would be their last shift.
They didn’t know it would be their last goodbye.
They didn’t know they wouldn’t be coming home.
But they went anyway.
As firefighters, that part hits a little differently. We know what it means to hear the tones, grab our gear, leave our friends and families and head toward someone else’s emergency. We know that when the call comes in, you don’t always know what you’re walking into. You just know someone needs help.
The courage shown that day will never be forgotten.
Today, Webster Parish Fire District 3 pauses to remember the 2,977 innocent lives lost, all of the first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice, and the families who have carried that loss for 25 years.
We may be a tiny village, but we will never forget the people who showed the world what it truly means to run toward danger when everyone else is running away.
We remember them.
We honor them.
We pray for the families who still miss them.
And we will NEVER forget.