BROCKPORT, N.Y. — It’s been 23 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The terror attacks changed the course of history and more than 2,000 additional people, many of them first responders, have died from illnesses attributed to 9/11. The Brockport Fire Department and the Brockport Volunteer Firefighters Association are remembering the lives lost and the bravery of first responders with an all-day vigil on Wednesday.

The ceremony takes place at the Firefighters Memorial Monument on South Main Street, created just months after 9/11. The monument includes a steel beam from the World Trade Center.

Christopher Martin, public information officer with the Brockport Fire Department, said one of the department’s past chiefs had the idea for the memorial after seeing Thomas Franklin’s iconic photo of firefighters raising an American flag over ground zero.

“This became his vision and so we built in in the days following,” Martin said.

Soon, donations came in to help build in the memorial and it was commissioned in the October following the attacks. The memorial offers people a chance to reflect.

“There’s firefighters that come from the tri county region. They come and spend time with us and the community support is unbelievable,” Marin said. “You’ve got people, they bring flowers and set them on the monument and say a prayer and shake hands with every firefighter and first responder.”

Across from the memorial, the firefighter’s museum has 343 tags representing every firefighter who died during 9/11. The tags have each person’s name and assignment with the FDNY. As people ring the memorial bell at the monument, they’ll wear the tags in memory of the fighters.

“As they come off the memorial, they’ll pull the tag from the uniform. They’ll read the name and ring the memorial bell so that each of them is honored individually and all day long as a group,” Martin said.

The ceremony started at 8:30 a.m.. Firefighters lowered the flag to half-staff and rang a memorial bell at 8:47 a.m.

After the opening ceremony, a uniformed honor guard will remain in place until 6 p.m. The closing ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include the playing of Taps.