If this engine could talk, what would it say about 9/11 in NYC?

Part of the backdrop for the 9/11 remembrances in Greencastle in 2021 and 2022 brought the south-central Pennsylvania community closer to the terror attacks two decades ago in New York City.

A somber anniversary:‘Say their names’ is the message as Greencastle remembers 9/11

See the pictures:Greencastle remembers Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with walk and ceremony

The retired FDNY — Fire Department of the City of New York — engine from Company 313 parked near the Greencastle veterans monument and memorial along North Washington Street along with Rescue Hose Co. apparatus.

Both years after the 9/11 Walk and ceremony remembering the nearly 3,000 lives lost at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field at Shanksville in Somerset County and the thousands more who have died in the global war on terror, first responders, veterans and local residents gathered for a photo with the engine.

Driven by Kerry Jackson, a retired professional firefighter and member of the Rescue Hose Co., it is owned by retired Pennsylvania State Police Trooper John Ford and is stored in a building at the Hagerstown Regional Airport.

The repainted and restored 1992 engine is brought out for car shows, parades and other events.

It is not known exactly the role the engine played after terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

The engine was based in Queens and was not on the initial dispatch, but it is believed to have been sent in later in the day, according to Jackson, who has a friend whose father worked at the station.

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com