9/11 AT 25: KEEPERS OF THE FLAME

🕐 Friday, September 11, 2026, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
📍 Flame of Liberty Memorial, Los Gatos Civic Center
🎙️ Keynote: Retired FDNY Lieutenant Joe Torrillo, survivor of the World Trade Center collapse

The Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation (VMSF) will host “9/11 at 25: Keepers of the Flame,” a community tribute honoring the heroes, victims, and survivors of September 11, 2001, on Friday, September 11, 2026, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony will take place at the Flame of Liberty Memorial, located at the Los Gatos Civic Center, 110 East Main Street, Los Gatos, California.

The event marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks and will bring together veterans, first responders, community leaders, and residents to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost and to honor the courage of those who responded that day — including the 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The public is invited to attend this free community event to honor and remember those affected by the events of September 11, 2001, and to reflect on the enduring spirit of service and sacrifice it inspired.

Keynote Speaker: Retired FDNY Lieutenant Joe Torrillo

This year’s keynote speaker is retired Lieutenant Joe Torrillo, a 25-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department. Torrillo spent the first 15 years of his career with Engine Company 10, stationed directly across the street from the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Torrillo was on his way to Rockefeller Center to help launch a new action figure, Billy Blazes, developed in partnership with Fisher-Price. In a striking irony, Torrillo himself had recommended September 11th as the launch date, because 911 is New York City’s emergency phone number.
Torrillo was roughly an eighth of a mile from the World Trade Center when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. Fearing for the safety of his firefighter brothers at Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10, directly across from the Towers, he changed out of his dress uniform, borrowed gear from another firefighter, and rushed to the scene to help.

While assisting in rescue operations, Torrillo was buried alive when the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., suffering a fractured skull, broken ribs, a broken arm, a crushed spine, and severe internal bleeding. Rescuers found him alive in the rubble and placed him on a long spine board aboard a boat on the Hudson River, intending to transport him to a hospital. Before the boat could depart, the North Tower collapsed, and Torrillo was buried alive a second time. He was rescued again.

Because he was wearing borrowed turnout gear bearing the name Thomas McNamara, Torrillo was misidentified and listed as missing for three days before he was found alive in a New Jersey hospital.

The Billy Blazes action figure Torrillo helped launch that morning has since come to represent the 343 FDNY firefighters killed in the line of duty on September 11, 2001.