Middletown World Trade Center Memorial Gardens

Of the close to 3,000 Americans who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, 37 of those were from Middletown, NJ, making it one of the hardest hit cities in the country. In September of 2002, the Middletown World Trade Center (WTC) Memorial Committee broke ground on a new memorial dedicated to these men and women.

Shortly after that horrific day in 2001, Mayor Patrick W. Parkinson had established a non-profit group consisting of family members and interested residents who had the same mission of simply remembering their fellow community members and contributing to a lasting tribute to the members who were killed as a result of the attacks.

The location chosen pays homage to the fact that many lost were daily commuters from the Middletown train station. The fateful September day, dozens of cars remained in the parking lot  with very few, if any, of the drivers coming back right away to pick them up. And in the coming days, many of those same cars still remained. For Middletown and other area towns, it was clear: many of these people were never returning.

As a part of the remembrance to the 37 victims, the memorial offers markers to each individual. On them, visitors can observe the name, age, job title and employer, and exactly where they worked inside the buildings. Currently open daily from dawn to dusk, the memorial serves Middletown and bordering communities as a place for peace and reflection in a way that not many other places can offer.

Residents honored at the Gardens are as follows:

 Lorraine D. Antigua

 Jane S. Beatty

 Donna Bernaerts-Kearns

 Alfred J. Braca

 Ronald M. Breitweiser

 Patrick J. Buhse

 Stephen J. Cangialosi

 Swede Joseph Chevalier

 Dolores Marie Costa

 Edward Desimone III

 Michael Egan

 David Ferrugio

 Daniel J. Gallagher

 John M. Grazioso

 Felicia Hamilton

 Patrick A. Hoey

 Kathleen A. Hunt Casey

 Brendan Mark Lang

 Roseanne P. Lang

 Anna A. Laverty

 Michael Patrick McDonnell

 Peter T. Milano

 Louis J. Minervino

 Justin John Molisani, Jr.

 James Thomas Murphy

 Christopher Newton-Carter

 Paul R. Nimbley

 Robert Emmett Parks, Jr.

 Nicholas P. Pietrunti

 John M. Pocher

 Beth Ann Quigley

 Gregg Reidy

 Robert Andrew Spencer

 Dick Stadelberger

 Kenneth Tietjen

 Anthony Ventura

 Rodney James Wotton

"Middletown World Trade Center Memorials Gardens," https://www.middletownnj.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/-44

"Middletown 9/11 Memorial Gardens," https://livingmemorial.voicesofseptember11.org/memorials/middletown-911-memorial-gardens

Caitlin Brown, "Middletown, N.J. And September 11: The Day So Many Never Came Home," Patch.com, https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/middletown-remembering-those-lost-september-11