The blue shirts of the Eisenhower High School leadership team blended with the blue shirts of the firefighters standing behind them as the two groups came together for a special remembrance ceremony.

Firefighters at Fire Station No. 5 invited the students to join them for their annual 9/11 observance, commemorating those who lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City 25 years ago. For the 17- and 18-year-old students, the ceremony brought a history lesson to life. None of them were born when two airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center towers that day, ultimately claiming almost 3,000 lives. They have only read in school about the attacks that so many others vividly remember.

Madysen Gardner, EHS senior, said she was taught about the attacks on America in elementary school and “a little bit of middle school.”

“This is probably the most I’ve heard about it since sixth grade,” she said after the ceremony. “It was a really good ceremony.”

Tyler Shoopman, senior, said he was taught in school how firefighters rushed in and went up the stairs to save those who were trapped. He also read the book “The Man in the Red Bandanna,” which tells the true story of a volunteer firefighter who waved his red bandana so others could follow him to safety. The man, Welles Crowther, ultimately lost his life when the South Tower collapsed.

The students also learned at the local 9/11 ceremony that the tragedy hit close to the Lawton Fort Sill community. The annual observance has a special significance for one Lawton resident, Kathi Ezzo-Talbott, whose brother, volunteer firefighter Peter Brennan, died that day.

“It makes me see it on a deeper perspective, that someone here was impacted by that,” Shoopman said after the ceremony.

Gardner agreed, saying she saw how the event impacted the Lawton Fort Sill community “more than we thought it would. Being able to show that it was her brother and it hit our community a lot closer.”

Bryan Frias, senior, said he was more familiar with the history of the attacks because he has a cousin who was born the morning of 9/11. He said his parents were at the hospital waiting for the birth of his cousin when they saw TV coverage of the event.

“My cousin is like another sister,” Frias said. “We remember her birthday and we always remember 9/11. That was the first thing they (parents) saw before they got to see her. We always remember it.”

Capt. Jason Sellers, of Fire Station No. 5, said he thought it was important to invite the students to participate in the ceremony.

“We hope they get a sense of the sacrifices made by those people. A lot of the security measures we have today date back to that day,” Sellers said. “This memorial is special because of the 25th anniversary.”

Sellers said he would like to make the event bigger next year and invite more students.

Fire Station No. 5 houses some memorabilia from Peter Brennan, including a commemorative fire hose with FDNY Lawton Fire 343 printed on its cover. Three hundred forty-three is the number of firefighters who lost their lives trying to save others on 9/11. The station also houses a fire hydrant painted as a firefighter with the number 2789, which was Brennan’s number, painted on its helmet. A photo of Brennan hangs in the station.

The ceremony ended with the traditional ringing of the bell to signify when a firefighter has died in the line of duty.