Hundreds of firefighters gathered at the Wall of Remembrance in Coney Island Friday. .

The names of each of the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11 were read aloud during a ceremony Friday. James Molinell, a firefighter at Ladder 169 in Brooklyn, says he was working on that day 19 years ago and lost several of his friends.

"It’s my job since I survived and I was lucky that day. From the bottom of my heart I wanted to make sure that their memory always lived,” says Molinell.

He organized the event for the first time 17 years ago with about 20 people participating. This year, there were hundreds in attendance with the same mission, to ensure we never forget.

"We try to stress to all the guys who were there to talk about one of the guys who they knew who passed away. Share a memory, a story, what type of firefighter they were. So, they can take that memory and pass it on to the next generation,” says Molinell.

This year, however, looked different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Social distancing outside. We're not doing a Mass after this. We're not gathering for lunch. So, it's really just about the ceremony which is OK with me because that's what it's really about, it's about them, it's about the names,” says Molinell.

The ceremony ended with Molinell sharing a line from the movie "Stand-up Guy."

He said, “You die twice. First when a human being takes their last breath. The second when the last person you knew says your name for the last time. That's what today is about making sure their name is said all the time so that spirit lives all the time.”