HAMILTON — Wyoming Fire Chief and retired state Fire Marshal Robert Rielage recalled where he was — like so many Americans did — Sunday, Sept. 11, on the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.

“I was sitting in my office when my executive assistant said, ‘Marshal, you need to turn on the television,’ and I saw then that the plane had struck World Trade Center 1, and the planes that were going there. It was that little bit of feeling having been a former Air Force officer — we were probably seeing a terrorist attack,” he said.

Rielage, who served as the state fire marshal during the Sept. 11 attacks, shared what it was like to be at the state level that day and his personal reflection on how the three separate attacks on America impacted his life during a Sept. 11 ceremony sponsored by the Butler County Fire Chief’s Association at the county’s Fallen Firefighters Memorial on Monument Avenue.

He was among more than 100 firefighters and public safety officials and families who paid their respects and vowed never to forget the 343 New York firefighters who lost their lives during Sept. 11.

There also was a laying of the roses ceremony honoring 15 area fire chiefs, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who recently died from departments including Hamilton, Liberty Twp,, Middletown and Monroe.

Rielage said as a part of a state Task Force, he volunteered to go to New York City to help determine how the city and state were going to integrate their actions with the federal government.

“Something that had never been tried or tested before to this level. My role was very, very small, but to see men and the women from Ohio Task Force 1 that were serving and what they were doing... all the pictures of the debris that were there cannot begin to give you an indication of the extent of devastation,” he said.

Denise Harrison, of Hamilton, attended the ceremony to place a rose on the monument on behalf of her mom, Bonnie Taylor, who died Feb. 25, after serving 11 years as a emergency medical service officer for the Liberty Twp. Fire Department.

“I thought it was very respectful and such a honor for the people who served. They really deserved that and I am glad I was here to see it. It’s such a sacrifice they make,” she said of public safety personnel.

Later in the afternoon, A Call To Remembrance of 9/11” ceremony was held during the final day of the Great Miami River Days Festival. It was sponsored by the Michael J. Colligan Fund of the Hamilton Community Foundation.

Hamilton Mayor Pat Moeller said, “may this event help us remember the past and contemplate the future.”

“We are here to remember the victims of New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. We are here to remember those who sacrifice to save others: our firefighters, police officers, emergency personnel and military,” he said under threatening rain and cloud cover.

In addition, he said the event was held for people to pray.

Moeller said 10 years ago, Hamilton was grappling with the events on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

“Four airplanes had been used as instruments of war. Nearly 3,000 innocent civilians were killed by terrorists, the New York Fire Department lost 343 firefighters and the New York Police Department lost 60 officers,” he said.

“Fort Hamilton Hospital was locked down, schools had closed and we spent time with loved ones watching the news, and through the years we had gone forward. There’s been over 6,000 military casualties in the war on terror. As (former) Mayor Rudolph Giuliani correctly has stated, ‘the attack on 9/11 was intended to break our spirit, but it has utterly failed.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.