Burlington County Honors 1st Responders, Victims At 9/11 Ceremony

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — Phyllis Worrell responded to Ground Zero as part of a search, rescue and recovery team on Sept. 11, 2001.

“It wasn’t until I came home, however, that I realized that the job God gave me wasn’t just to save a life,” Worrell said in her remarks at Burlington County’s Remembrance Ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. “It was to help. It was to give support to our neighbors in their time of need.”

Worrell, now the Virtua Health Emergency Management Coordinator, followed the lesson she learned that day down another path, ultimately playing a major role helping out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worrell, who also serves as the Healthcare Coordinator for the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management, directed operations at New Jersey’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mega-Site at the Moorestown Mall earlier this year.

More than 390,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to residents from across the region at the site, which had been set up at the former Lord & Taylor store at the mall from February through July. Read more here: COVID-19 Vaccine Site At Moorestown Mall To Close Friday

Worrell, who responded to Ground Zero as part of the New Jersey Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue Team on Sept. 11, 2001, was selected as a keynote speaker at the Remembrance Ceremony, which was held outside the Burlington County Emergency Services Training Center in Westampton on Saturday.

“For most of us who were there, we went willingly, even happily to help, always knowing there were risks,” Worrell said. “We did not sign up to die. We did not sign up to become ill. It is not part of our job. But almost to a man and woman, we would do it again – to try to save a life, to serve our community, to serve our country.”

Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Noble, deputy superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, also spoke at the event.

“We all remember where we were that day, that sense of uncertainty about what’s coming next,” Noble said. “Yet the men and women who have sworn an oath to serve – the first responders, the firefighters, the medics, EMTs and the troopers – we did not hesitate. In that moment, on that dark day of 9/11, I saw the very best. I stood with the best. I was with the best. I was humbled to be part of the best. I don’t mean the State Police. I mean the first responders. The men and women who without hesitation didn’t blink.”

“The attacks changed us as individuals and as a nation,” said Burlington County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson, who led the ceremony. “It was a horrible tragedy and a brutal crime committed against our country and our people. But it was also a unifying one. 9/11 brought us together as one nation, blind to race, religion, status or political party. We united in mourning but also in the belief that by working together we can overcome whatever challenges we face.”

The service also included a bagpipe processional, honor guard, musical performances, wreath presentations, and reading the names and short bios of the Burlington County victims.

During the ceremony, a New Jersey State Police helicopter also performed a flyover above the Emergency Services Training Center to commemorate the anniversary and those lost because of the attacks.

Commissioner Deputy Director Dan O’Connell and Commissioners Tom Pullion and Linda Hynes also participated in the service, which was organized by the Commissioners with the assistance of the Presidents of the Police, Fire and EMS chiefs’ Associations.