SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – This morning, San Francisco honored the victims and people affected by the terrorist attack on 9/11.

In a special ceremony, Mayor London Breed and the San Francisco fire commission shared a few words, but it was the stories of heroism and bravery that took center stage. 

“It’s as if it happened yesterday. If we were still there.”

After 20 years, the sights and sounds of 9/11 replay in Jeffrey Moreno’s head.

“I can recall just about every location we were at and basically what we did and what we did see.”

He’s among the 11 San Francisco firefighters who flew out to new york city to help first responders at ground zero.

“The gravity was overwhelming thinking that we could possibly save someone which wasn’t the case.”

Among the heroes is Harry Ong’s sister and San Francisco native, Betty Ong.

“Betty’s call resulted in the shutdown of over 6,000 planes up in the air who were scheduled to fly that day.”

She was a flight attendant on American Airlines flight 11.

Five people hijacked the plane.

“Betty called American Airlines and relayed information about the ongoings on the plane and identified the five hijacker seats.”

Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center north tower at 8:46 a.m.

“She remained on the phone relaying information. Her last words were ‘pray for us’.”

The San Francisco fire and police department joined forces Saturday, to remember Betty Ong and each person who perished.

During Saturday morning’s ceremony — the San Francisco fire called out the names of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.

“We keep this memory alive to honor those who lost their lives, to honor their families and honor those who were impacted.”

They paid tribute with the ringing of the bell.

It’s a long tradition in the fire service which signifies the last call for a firefighter.

“It is something we do every time a firefighter passes away on duty.”

Harry said their mother wondered why betty never called home that morning before the crash.

“I told her that Betty did what she was trained to do, that it was her first duty to protect the passengers.”

Harry now credits flight attendants for also being first responders – just in a different uniform.