How Canada’s military and first responders supported the U.S. after 9/11

As the United States marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Canadians are recalling how the Canadian military and first responders supported Americans in the months and years that followed.

Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers took control of four aircraft. Two planes struck New York City’s World Trade Center, while others hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Canada’s ambassador to NATO moved for the alliance to invoke Article Five for the first time, treating an attack on one member as an attack on all.

Canada joined its allies in war to support the United States and overthrow the Taliban regime that sheltered the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden. Canadian Armed Forces special forces personnel arrived in Afghanistan in December 2001, beginning 13 calendar years of combat and training operations. More than 40,000 soldiers rotated through the country before Canada ended its military presence in 2014, its longest deployment and largest since the Second World War.

The Afghanistan war claimed 158 Canadian service members, in addition to civilian lives. Private Demetrios Diplaros, a 24-year-old former Scarborough resident, was among them. His father, Anargyros “Jerry” Diplaros, said his son enjoyed sports and video games, worked with him at Cineplex and pursued his dream of becoming a soldier in his father’s footsteps. He recalled warning his son that military service could mean being far from family and facing danger.

Jerry said one of Demetrios’s final brief conversations was with his sister, during which the family remembers hearing gunfire. The family has mourned his death for nearly 18 years.

Lt.-Col. Trevor Norton, assigned to the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, served multiple deployments in Afghanistan over two years. He said the fighting had an intensity comparable to the world wars, though on a smaller scale, and that 9/11 has a direct connection to his deployments and the person he is today.

Norton recalled interactions with Afghan civilians in Kabul and said the deaths of fellow soldiers affected him even when he did not know them personally. He said morale depended on focusing on the mission and supporting fellow service members. He also recalled repatriation ceremonies at CFB Trenton, where fallen personnel arrived before transfer along the Highway of Heroes to the coroner’s office in Toronto. He said public displays of respect gave soldiers strength. About 3,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel now rotate through Latvia annually on Operation Reassurance.

Canadian firefighters also supported New York colleagues after the attacks. Jim Lee, then president of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, said fire and police union officials initially asked Canadian emergency workers not to travel because of logistics, though some went on their own. The association instead raised money for the orphans and widows of fallen firefighters.

Lee said Canadians donated generously. The association later brought a group of New York City firefighters to Ontario to help them regroup. They played baseball at Rogers Centre, attended a Toronto Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees and took a golf trip near Gravenhurst.

Joseph Dittmar, a retired insurance executive who escaped the World Trade Center’s South Tower, said Canadian support meant a great deal to survivors. He also expressed gratitude for people who volunteered to serve after 9/11, including those who went to Afghanistan.

Jerry Diplaros urged people to remember the sacrifices on Nov. 11 by wearing a poppy, saying thank you and observing a moment of silence. Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report.