La Quinta holds candlelight vigil to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11
September 11, 2001 is a day that will never be forgotten. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York City, Washington D.C., and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania after planes were hijacked.
Dozens of families and local leaders gathered Tuesday evening in La Quinta to remember the lives lost and honor the first responders who bravely put their lives on the line, in many cases, paying the ultimate sacrifice 17 years ago.
Every year since 2013, the city of La Quinta hosts a candlelight vigil at their 9/11 memorial at Civic Center Park. The memorial, built in 2013, features a piece of steel recovered from Ground Zero.
It was local resident, Andrew Davis’, eagle scout project in 2011. His father was in New York on business and was supposed to be in the World Trade Center during the attacks but he had left home early. His father’s experience, just missing the attack, was the inspiration behind the memorial project, but an encounter with a local woman was Davis’ motivation to get the project done.
“She (a local woman he met while fundraising for the memorial) lost her daughter in the World Trade Center. She never got to recover her body, but she said this memorial is her grave, a way to remember her,” Davis said. “Jeannine Damiani-Jones. Damiani-Jones was a 28-year-old bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald when her life was cut short on that September 11, 2001 day. She is missed every day and will also never be forgotten,” Davis said.
A tree was planted in her honor near the memorial in La Quinta. Nearly 3,000 others who lost their lives were remembered at the vigil, including 400 emergency workers.
“Having the community come around and support first responders in memorials like this, it touches me as an individual,” said Captain Misty Reynolds, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Thermal Station.
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