TEQUESTA, Fla. — Tequesta Fire Rescue Capt. David McGovern has watched the 9/11 memorial just outside his fire station grow from the ground up.
"This turned out absolutely beautiful," he said. "I watched it get built right from the beginning."
The space, anchored by a fountain and the twisted steel of the World Trade Center, carries a stillness that McGovern said he feels every time he visits.
"I just think it's so peaceful," he said.
Standing near the beams, the weight of what they represent is not lost on him.
"Even standing here now, it's surreal," McGovern said. "You can see just the marks and the twists and the turns."
The steel sometimes moves him to stop, place a hand on the metal, and reflect.
"Makes you proud to put on a uniform. You're one of them," McGovern said. "They were all heroes, every single one of them."
His message to anyone who visits is simple.
"Don't ever forget all the souls that were lost that day and all those people and the firefighters and police officers and everybody that perished that day," McGovern said. "To look at those beams today and say never forget, that was one day that every single one of us was American and after for a long time. We were American."
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Remembering 9/11
A tribute with deep, personal meaning
The memorial also carries a personal meaning for McGovern. A plaque at the site, in part, dedicates the monument to the late Jim Humpage, who was once mayor of Tequesta and a friend to many, including McGovern.
"He was the type of guy that used to pay residents' electrical bills without telling them, because they didn't have the money to do it," McGovern said.
There's also a memorial brick, placed by McGovern, paying tribute to a World War II veteran who became one of McGovern's closest friends, the late James Thompson.
The two formed an unlikely bond.
"He was 103 years of age when he passed away and we'd become really good friends," McGovern said. "Who ever thought at the time a 95-year-old and a 30-year-old would hit it off and be friends."
For McGovern, the memorial represents something larger than any single person or moment — it reflects the character of the community he has served for decades.
"Makes me very proud to be a Tequesta firefighter," he said.
To hear more stories be sure to watch Echoes of September: A 9/11 Special TONIGHT at 7 p.m. on WPTV
