MADISON (WKOW) -- First responders and wounded military veterans were honored on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 in Madison on Tuesday.
Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) participated in A Salute to Wisconsin's Warriors event at Cherokee Country Club.
About 20 wounded veterans of the War On Terror were in attendance.
They are living reminders of the sacrifice some felt was necessary after 9/11.
"Absolutely, 100 percent why I joined the military," said Ryan Fellenz of Chippewa Falls, who lost the lower-half of his right leg when an IED exploded in Iraq in 2007. "After it happened everybody has their own emotion, I got mad. "
It was an emotion common after that world-changing day, one the Governor equates to an event 60 years earlier.
"And for us, 9/11 was our generation's Pearl Harbor Day. It was a time when our innocence was shattered and we could be attacked even on our own shores here in America," said Gov. Walker.
Ryan Fellenz says his anger over September 11th is still there, but he is also grateful for those who are now protecting us.
"It surprises me how many veterans we have in this state and I think this is our Pearl Harbor, like the Governor said, and I think it really brings people out and they do remember," said Fellenz.
The Madison Police Department remembered the first responders that perished that fateful day.
"More than 2,700 people lost their lives on 9/11 in New York City alone," said Asst. Chief John Davenport. "Of that number, over 400 were police, fire, medical, rescue and emergency personnel."
Asst. Chief Davenport says that sacrifice is something he never wants people to forget, and hopes no other agency has to endure again.
"Its something that you try to mentally prepare yourself for, at least a tragedy, maybe not to that magnitude. but you just feel blessed and fortunate that we've never had to deal with that. That must just be a horrendous thing to deal with," said Asst. Chief Davenport.
