"None of us gets here alone," LiPetri said. "Whatever rank we reach, whatever command we lead, we are standing on the foundations other people built. "
"We inherit their lessons, their example, and eventually it becomes our responsibility to pass those things forward," he added.
"We are still losing members to illnesses caused by their service after the attacks," LiPetri said. "All these years later, we are still standing with families as they bury loved ones whose lives were forever changed by the work they did after Sept. 11"
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"Sept. 11 did not end on Sept. 11," NYPD Chief Chaplain Reverend R. Bernard said during the invocation. "For many, the costs continued for years, illness endured, families impacted and lives ultimately lost. "
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"There he was confronted with unimaginable suffering, but he did not stop with the same immense bravery and courage that was commonplace among so many that day, the kind that has long defined this department," Mamdani said.
"Officer Perry ran into the fire. The last time he was seen he was helping a woman out of the South Tower before rushing back in to save as many others as he could. Officer Perry and 22 of his fellow officers, each with their own stories, were killed that morning. That includes 14 members of the emergency service unit, who were among the first to enter the towers. "
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"Every officer present that day embodied the NYPD’s creed that the duty to protect is not a job that one clocks out of, but a calling," Mamdani said. "One answers until the very end.
"In the days and months that followed September 11th, thousands of NYPD officers and staff from across every precinct and every borough heeded that same call. They took on that same heavy and incalculable risk. "
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Their sons play on the same lacrosse team Klopfer founded before the attacks.
"Their fathers are gone, but the team that Ron built is still here," LiPetri said. "Their sons are wearing an NYPD uniform, and a connection that began years before Sept. 11 continues inside the department. "
Tisch said thousands of current NYPD officers were , while many others had not yet been born. She said preserving the memories of those who served is becoming increasingly important as the generation that responded to the attacks retires.
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"The faces in this building will be different, but these names will still be here," Tisch said. "The example of the men and women behind them will continue to shape the department. "