The leader of the New Jersey State Police, Colonel Patrick Callahan, was among the dignitaries on hand when Warren County held its 16th Annual Patriot Day Ceremony on Saturday Sept. 12.

The moving ceremony was held at the Warren County Emergency Services and 9/11 Memorial, located just off Route 57 in Washington Township, between Warren Tech and Warren County Community College. The Memorial, which includes a large steel beam salvaged from the Ground Zero wreckage, honors Warren County residents who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack as well as Warren County police, fire and EMS personnel who have died in the line of duty.

Warren County residents who died on 9/11 were Deepa Pakkala of Greenwich Township, Bruce Reynolds of Knowlton, Bruce Simmons from Hackettstown, and Robert Miller Jr. of Belvidere. Reynolds was a Port Authority Patrolman as well as a Knowlton firefighter.

Keynote speaker was NJ State Police Sgt. First Class Michael Lamonaco. Lamonaco, whose father Phillip, also a state trooper, was killed in the line of duty in 1981, spoke about his own work as a trooper as well as his family’s work in memory of his dad. Michael’s mother, Donna, was also a speaker at the event, reading “Never Forget.”

Other speakers included Col. Callahan, Frank Wheatley, Director of Warren County Department of Safety, Donna Wolfgang (reading her cousin’s post 9/11 Christmas letter to the family), Tom Luckey of the Washington Fire Department, and Ptl. Christoper Laver of Hackettstown Warren County Fire Marshal Joe Lake (pictured below with Col. Patrick Callahan) presided over the ceremony.

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Robert Hill Jr., Eagle Scout, Troop 141, the National Anthem was sang by Elisa Schaffer, and Danny Boy was performed by her daughter, Charlize Schaffer.

Fire and police departments and EMS personnel from throughout the county were represented, as well as freeholders Jason Sarnoski and Jim Kern and other officials.