“We are united with you in grief. We offer all we have… Your loved ones will never, ever be forgotten.” said Everett E. Shaver Jr., commander of the American Legion Post 927 of Gilbert, during a 9/11 Memorial Service Thursday.

Shaver said, “We need to be ready to comfort those that lost people and honor them.”

Shaver’s wife, Deborah, shared her agonizing story as she was working across from the World Trade Center.

She heard someone say, “The Pentagon was hit” and a loud rumble as everyone ran towards the water, you couldn’t breathe or see from the debris.”

She added, “The remembrance is to teach our young, have it in history books and always remember and have a story to tell.”

Peggy Calcavecchia and Deborah Shaver led the crowd in singing the National Anthem.

Eileen McGuire, auxiliary member of the Legion, led the opening prayer. ”In times of darkness let us be the source of light,” she said.

Speaker Hector Ramirez was a motorman on the subway that day when he heard over the radio that there was smoke and a plane hit the tower.

He held the cars in the tunnel and was told to bypass the next stations in Manhattan. Ramirez said as he was passing the platform he “had never seen that kind of fear in people.”

There was no longer radio contact so he made a judgment call to stop the subway and allow everyone on the platform to board.

Ramirez recalled, “I got to see New York City become Mayberry USA, with politeness, kindness, and patriotism. When I saw people lining up to give blood in California, I realized that this was a national issue.”

Speaker John McGowan, a flight medic in the Army and paramedic with the New York Fire Department said, “I’m hesitant to talk about it, seeing people at their darkest. Everyone was covered in ash and debris. The real heroes were the people that helped each other. “

Hank Miller, a Marine, was working at JP Morgan Chase that day and had many friends die, including one in his arms. What amazed him was walking through the Bowery, a part of New York known for homeless and soup kitchens.

Tears built up as Miller shared, “The homeless were all bringing water and chairs to help people.”

Following a rifle volley outside, Eileen McGuire played taps and a wreath in remembrance was placed in the Memorial Garden.