Lawton's Station No. 5 Remembers 9/11 Hero Peter Brennan, 25 Years Later

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, Lawton firefighters gathered at Station No. 5 to make sure one name in particular stays spoken out loud. Peter Brennan, a retired NYPD officer and FDNY firefighter, was among the 343 firefighters killed at the World Trade Center. His sister, Kathi Ezz0-Talbott, lives in Lawton, and she has stood with our fire department at this ceremony year after year. The Honor Guard raised the flag to half mast, and the station’s display carries Brennan’s fire hydrant alongside a Heroes Flag bearing the names of every first responder lost that day.

Fire Chief Jared Williams and City Manager John Ratliff spoke to the crowd, and a bell rang for Brennan and all 441 first responders lost on September 11, 2001. Williams reminded those gathered that September 11 shows us the next opportunity is never guaranteed, and that the best way to honor the fallen is through how we live and serve. For Kathi, the ceremony is also a homecoming of sorts. She found a fire family here in Lawton, fourteen hundred miles from where her brother made his final run.

In a way that only our community could write, the day didn’t end when the ceremony did. Hours later, those same Lawton firefighters were battling a brush fire near the Cameron golf course. Remembrance in the morning, service in the afternoon. If you know a first responder, or you’re part of a family that carries a loss like Kathi’s, we’d love to hear from you. What keepss a memory alive in your household?