Exeter #1 Volunteer Fire Department Fire Marshal Susan Hawksley participates in the 9/11 remembrance ceremony Thursday at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)
A small but pensive crowd gathered together Thursday morning at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Exeter to observe the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
People silently entered the Wall of Honor, which is in the center portion of the cemetery, via a walkway flanked on each side by members of the Rhode Island Patriot Guard Riders standing at attention, holding flags.
Debbie Kane of The Rhode Island Highlanders played the bagpipes before the speaking program began.
Among those who delivered remarks was Lt. Col. Andrew C. Cairns, professor of the University of Rhode Island’s ROTC program, who shared his memory of watching the clear blue sky fill with smoke across the New York skyline from his high school classroom in New Jersey.
Other speakers were The Rev. William Reynolds of the Beacon Church in Exeter; Paul Murgo, administrator of the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol, and George Lieb of the Exeter #1 Volunteer Fire Department.
Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, presented a proclamation to William Pennoyer of the American Legion. The proclamation states that new legislation passed this year by the General Assembly allows teachers or administrators in Rhode Island public schools to hold a brief moment of silence after the pledge of allegiance on the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. The new law, ceremonially signed Thursday afternoon by Gov. Dan McKee, was modeled on a measure enacted in New York to commemorate the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
Followed by the bugle call of the Rhode Island Funeral Honors Team playing “To The Colors.”
Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, presents William Pennoyer of the American Legion, with a proclamation about legislation allowing Rhode Island public schools to observe the 9/11 anniversary with a moment of silence. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)
The ceremony continued with the laying of a memorial wreath, the reading of the names of the Rhode Islanders lost in the attacks, and the “Striking of the Four Fives” — a ceremonial ringing of five bell strikes repeated in four series, a tradition that signifies the death of a firefighter in the line of duty.
Exeter Town Council Vice President Ray Morrisfield gave the crowd a few words to contemplate before the ceremony ended with a rifle volley by the Rhode Island Funeral Honors Team, standing high upon a hill.
“Up to 9/11, we would say let the dead rest in peace, but today let us say, let the living live in peace,” Morrisfield said.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX