BOSTON — A Marine veteran who helped stop a gunman during a shooting in Cambridge was honored Friday at the Massachusetts State House during a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Thomas Joseph “TJ” Swenson Jr. received the annual Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery, which recognizes extraordinary acts of courage.
Officials credited Swenson with warning bystanders and helping a Massachusetts State Police trooper subdue a gunman who opened fire in broad daylight on Memorial Drive in May.
Two people were injured in the shooting, but no one was killed.
The award presentation was part of an emotional morning of remembrance on Beacon Hill, where families, survivors, elected leaders, and community members gathered to honor the 206 Massachusetts residents and natives killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The ceremony began with a recording of Josh Groban’s “To Where You Are” before Gov. Maura Healey presented the American flag.
Following the National Anthem, the flag was lowered to half-staff as Taps was performed. Those gathered on the State House steps and along nearby sidewalks observed a moment of silence.
The annual remembrance ceremony’s most moving tradition followed as family members and loved ones read the names of each Massachusetts victim aloud.
Attendees also heard the poem “We Remember Them,” which concluded with the words:
“As long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.”
The ceremony remains one of the Commonwealth’s most solemn annual tributes, bringing together families still grieving loved ones lost a quarter-century ago.
Friday’s event was one of several commemorations taking place across Boston and Massachusetts to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and forever changed the nation.
As the names echoed across Beacon Hill and the flag flew at half-staff, those gathered renewed the promise made in the days after Sept. 11, 2001: Never Forget.
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