LIVERMORE FALLS — The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. were recounted Thursday as people gathered at Union Park in a remembrance service of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that fateful day in 2001.

The voices of Sarah Mosher and her sister, Jocelyn Collins-Mosher, rang out as they sang the national anthem. It had the effect, just as the tolling of the bell had later on, to bring home the somberness of the ceremony.

“When I was preparing for this ceremony, I watched the news footage of the attack, and it brought tears to my eyes as it did 13 years ago, when my homeland, the land of the free because of the brave, was attacked,” Palmer Hebert, commander of VFW Post 3335 in Jay, said.

Nineteen terrorists hijacked four different planes heading from the East Coast to California, he said.

“These flights were chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey, transforming ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles,” Hebert said. “America had been attacked on its own soil, catapulting the United States into a long, hard-fought war on terrorism which is still being fought today.”

Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, said that people gathered Thursday to remember one of those events that left a mark on all those who lived through it.

“Like my parents remembered Pearl Harbor, or I remember the day President Kennedy was shot from my own childhood, if you ask anyone over 18 where they were when they heard the news of 9/11, they can tell you in great detail. It is one of those things that stays with you forever,” Patrick said.

Hundreds of police, fire and rescue workers were among those killed that day, he said.

Iconic buildings were attacked with the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., damaged and the Twin Towers demolished, forever altering the New York City skyline, he said.

“If not for the heroic actions of those on the fourth airliner, the catastrophe might even have been worse,” he said. “The brave passengers of Flight 93, hearing of the events of the day through their cellphones, died trying to overpower the terrorists that had taken over their plane, preventing them from crashing the plane into their intended target, the U.S. Capitol.”

In addition to this, there was shock of what it meant, he said.

“This was an attack on our way of life. This had happened here. The feeling things like this could only happen somewhere else was gone,” he said. “We were forced to realize that we weren’t immune anymore, that we were a part of a greater world.”

Changes followed, including new air travel rules and a balance was struck, he said.

Though al-Qaida has been weakened, it is still there, he said. There are the new terrorists from ISIL, but so far, the country has prevented any repetition of the events of that horrible day, Patrick said.

“And we have done that while maintaining our essential character as one of the freest countries on Earth,” Patrick said.

World War II veteran Erlon Rose said when he was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1945, he was 21 and knew he was privileged to be living in the safest country in the world.

“Little did I realize that 61 years later, this country would again be subjected to an unprovoked sneak attack, not on our military bases, but on our civilian population, killing men, women and children without any thought, care or regard,” Rose said.

“But in the wake of that sneak attack, it was not the military that responded immediately but our first responders, firefighters, police and medical units. I thank God we that we have these brave, unselfish volunteers whose first thoughts is that of helping others without regard of personal danger, and who responded in one of our darkest hours.

“They are all heroes and unselfishly place their lives in harm’s way to protect each of us,” he said. “May God bless our firefighters, police and medical units who are always there in our times of need to protect us from harms.”

[email protected]