PALM HARBOR, Fla. — More than 1,000 miles away from where the 9/11 terrorist attacks took thousands of lives, retired FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Norman read the names of his colleagues and friends who are etched on a plaque at the Curlew Hills Memory Gardens.

“When you look at those names, you say, ‘God if I hadn’t brought them to the unit maybe they would have survived,’” Norman said.

Following the attacks, Norman served as the Search and Rescue Manager of the World Trade Center site. An experienced firefighter, Norman spent more than 27 years with the New York City Fire Department. As a lieutenant, he served with Rescue Co. #2 which covered Brooklyn, and as a captain, he was company commander of Rescue Co. #1 in Manhattan’s high-rise district.

Norman says on the day of the attacks he remembers feeling incredibly disoriented. He knew the towers inside and out and had been working as a first responder in the buildings since they went up in the early 1970s. He remembers seeing some of his colleagues for the last time.

“One of my firefighters there, he’s caught on video saying we might not survive this,” Norman recalled. “They knew that before they went into the building, yet they still went. They’d do it again today. They’d do it for you and they’d do it for your family.”

Some of Norman’s colleagues and fellow first responders have passed on over the last 22 years. He says their lungs and bodies were too damaged by the toxins in the rubble. Two of Norman’s brothers who worked for NYPD are both dealing with chronic illness.

“The toll is huge and it's still growing,” he said.

While he’s used to seeing 9/11 memorial sites and remembrance ceremonies across the state of New York, Norman says seeing that same outpouring of support more than 1,000 miles away means the world.

“I am sad, I am proud, I am heartbroken at the losses,” he said, “but that always has been and always will be I think.”

A remembrance ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Monday at the Curlew Hills Memory Gardens memorial site.