Quinn Averett was named the Knights of Columbus Mesquite Police Officer of the Year at their 9-11 remembrance ceremony Friday, Sep. 11. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Quinn Averett was named the Knights of Columbus Mesquite Police Officer of the Year at their 9-11 remembrance ceremony Friday, Sep. 11. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

The front pews were filled with Mesquite’s finest police officers and firefighters who perhaps were recalling the horrors their fellow men and women faced more than 2,500 miles away on that fateful day 14 years ago.

Ryan Thornton was honored as the Knights of Columbus Mesquite Firefighter of the Year on Friday, Sep 11 at the 9-11 remembrance ceremony.  Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Ryan Thornton was honored as the Knights of Columbus Mesquite Firefighter of the Year on Friday, Sep 11 at the 9-11 remembrance ceremony. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

More than 100 Mesquite residents joined them as the Knights of Columbus held a 9-11 memorial service at the La Virgen de Guadalupe Catholic Church on Friday, Sep. 11.

“We need to remember to remember the tragedy that hit our country that day,” Father Blaise Baran said from the pulpit as he recalled his experiences in Middlesex, New Jersey when terrorists struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and caused the crash of Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field.

“We don’t remember so we can hold grudges but so we can become closer to our Father the Creator,” Father Blaise added. “We remember so we can honor the finest police and firefighters who ran into buildings that day to save others. We need to remember the past so we can bring it forward. There will be a time when those of us who remember where we were that day aren’t here anymore. Are we going to forget? Will those who follow us remember?”

Following the religious service, the Mesquite Knights of Columbus did indeed honor local police and firefighters by naming Ryan Thornton as their Firefighter of the Year and Quinn Averett as their Police Officer of the Year.