A 25th-anniversary 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Farmington brought residents together at Riley Park to honour the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The gathering in Metro Detroit was marked by reflection and personal memories, as people who lived through the attacks recalled the shock and uncertainty that followed.
Commander Dan Jenkins told the crowd that the question “where were you?” had become a shared reference point for a generation.
“Where were you? Where were you when the first tower hit? Where were you when the second plane struck? Turning a tragic accident into an undeniable act of war,” he said.
The attacks began when two hijacked aircraft crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York. A third plane struck the Pentagon, while a fourth came down in a field in Pennsylvania.
Patricia Kaye recalled being at the Wixom Assembly Plant when news of the attacks spread among workers. Television sets were switched on as employees tried to understand what was happening.
“You never shut down a car line, but we heard all this commotion and people were watching the TVs and were like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and we shut the car lines down and everybody was in shock,” she said.
Jenkins said the phrase “where were you” was about more than a physical location.
“It is about a shared emotional coordinate, it connects every single one of us here in Farmington today,” he said.
For younger Americans, the attacks are increasingly encountered through lessons and history books. For those who remember September 11 and the weeks that followed, the ceremony served as a reminder that the events remain a deeply personal memory.
The Farmington event formed part of wider commemorations across Michigan on Friday, September 11, 2026, marking a quarter of a century since the attacks.
