BOISSEVAIN — Hundreds gathered today on a remote stretch of the Prairies to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a ceremony that also affirmed close bonds between Canada and the United States.

Firefighters from across southern Manitoba marched to the skirl of a bagpipe at the International Peace Garden, a park straddling the Canada-U.S border at Manitoba and North Dakota.

Salvaged beams from the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City sit in the garden as a part of a permanent memorial to the attacks 25 years ago.

In the final prayer of the ceremony, 1st Lt. J. Nathan Haugen called the garden a place of enduring fellowship and the sacred steel a testament to resilience, courage and sacrifice.

Jason Shaw, a deputy fire chief in Winnipeg, said communities and countries came together on Sept. 11, 2001, and that the love and compassion shown to neighbours helped pierce the darkness of the day.

The crowd at the ceremony included high school students not yet born in 2001, as well as seniors.

Retired auditor Mae Streich of Bottineau, N.D., said she has been to every 9/11 ceremony at the garden as a way to make sure the past is remembered.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press