The Bridgeport fire and police departments paid tributes Sunday morning to the victims lost in the 9/11 attacks 21 years ago.

Ceremonies took place at all fires stations across the city, with fire trucks extending ladders as part of the tribute.

There was also a purple wreath that symbolized the purple lights that now shine where the towers stood.

Bridgeport Fire Department Chief Lance Edwards presided over the ceremony at the fire department headquarters, with Rev. David Miller who provided the opening and closing prayer.

Edwards said when it comes to moments of remembrance, all first responders pause and come together in a somber show of respect.

Each man and woman in uniform stayed silent for one minute at 8:46 a.m., the moment of impact at Ground Zero, as a time of reflection and a show of respect for the fallen.

"That particular day is etched into my should and in my heart," Edwards said.

Long before Edwards held the top job at the department, he was serving the public back in 2001 as a locksmith. But all these years later, Edwards said he still can't unlock the mystery of what would motivate anyone to kill thousands of innocent people and provide America's new millennium with perhaps its darkest hour to date.

"We had never been exposed to anything like that. Generations prior, they were accustomed to seeing things of that nature," Edwards said. "For us, it was all new to us. It took me quite a while to actually get over it."

Exactly 21 years later, with the sun poking through an overcast sky, the men and women of the Bridgeport fire and police departments paid their tributes.

All, which comprised of many recruits, stood shoulder to shoulder with their hands together and their heads bowed, all of them looking through an open window of history and seeing men and women just like themselves who came to serve but ended up dying that day.

"That day, experiencing the terror, the trauma that ended many of their lives and certainly changed the lives of all of their family and friends," said Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim

Officials said every Sept. 11 is a time refocus from the negative to the positive. They emphasized that each a milestone brings people farther from that day, yet closer to each other.

"Today, we're able to show connectedness, love for one another through the simplest acts of kindness," said Reverend Dr. Herron K. Gaston, of the Summerfield United Methodist Church.

"Every year, we have a tendency to forget what's really important in our lives, and today is a day for us to reset and think about the accounts that took place on 9/11 and think about the importance of treating each other with respect and loving one another," Edwards said.