9/11 ceremony held on board USS Midway Museum

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Dozens of people gathered on board the USS Midway Museum Thursday to remember the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Fire Department of New York Retirees of San Diego, along with the USS Midway Museum, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, National City Fire Department, San Diego Firefighter's Emerald Society and The Wounded Warrior Project helped host the ceremony.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day, including Barbara Pandolfo’s daughter.

“It took my life away, everybody tells me how strong that I keep getting up every day and putting one foot in front of the other, they took the best and the brightest,” she said.

David Blacksberg, a retired New York EMS, was one of the first to respond to help rescue people.

He nearly lost his own life saving others.

“Then all of a sudden you start to see and hear the buildings coming down, I thought I ran for miles but it was probably 100 feet,” he said.

The message of the ceremony was to keep the promise to Never Forget.