The 200 Club of Burlington County held its annual 9/11 Memorial Service at the Community House of Moorestown on the 25th anniversary, featuring guest speakers Col. Patrick J. Callahan and Jonathan Clifford, a national security technology professional who serves as the vice president of Defense Tech and Industrial Manufacturing Policy for General Catalyst.
“Twenty-five years; a quarter of a century. It was a clear, blue Tuesday morning, the kind that we’re so lucky to have on many September mornings,” said club president Stephen Raymond of the September 11, 2001, attacks. “Most of us can still remember exactly where we were standing that morning and by mid-morning, the world as we knew it had changed.”
Twenty-five years is long enough that a new generation now wears the uniform, Raymond emphasized. Many new officers, firefighters and EMTs serving counties today weren’t even born yet and for them, he added, 9/11 is history but for those who were already on this Earth, it’s a memory.
“Part of why we gather every year is to hand that memory forward, so that what was given that day is never forgotten,” Raymond said. “The 200 Club is built on a simple promise – when a Burlington County first responder is killed or injured in the line of duty; their family will not stand alone. The club will be there for them. September 11 showed the entire nation what our local heroes risk every time they answer a call.”
Clifford also serves as the senior advisor and Professional Staff Member for Technology and Innovation for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the United States of House of Representatives, working for Chairman Michael Turner (R-OH). He was honored to be selected as a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member, and as Center for a New American Security (CNAS) NextGen National Security Leaders Fellow in 2023. Prior to returning to Capitol Hill, Clifford served in the Department of Defense (DoD) as a Strategic Communications Officer and project manager in the Chief Strategy Office (CSO) of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). A third-generation service member, Clifford is a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve, having deployed overseas to the CENTCOM area of responsibility with Seal Team Seven. His military awards include multiple personal, unit-level and campaign awards. A graduate of Moorestown High School, Clifford has served his community as a firefighter for more than 20 years, starting his service with the Moorestown Fire Department and Relief Engine Company. He is also a life member of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, having served as a lieutenant and on the board of directors in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
“September 11 was the day I think most indelibly changed my life, but the more days came, the days became months and the years grew longer, it was all the beginning of a call of service,” Clifford said. “Having the honor of wearing our nation’s cloth is likely most highly correlated with that same day that I will never forget. I’ll never forget those clear, blue skies that September morning, I’ll never forget needing to do something about it – personally – and living a life that is aligned to that. I’ll never forget the heroes that day or the heroes that day bred, and I’ll never forget the lives that changed that day and every day afterwards.”
Callahan was sworn in on October 31, 2017, as the 14th Colonel of the New Jersey State Police. He served 31 years with the New Jersey State Police and as the State Director of the Office of Emergency Management. He also served as a member of the New Jersey Coronavirus Task Force established by former Gov. Phil Murphy in February of 2020. Prior to being appointed Colonel, he previously served as the Deputy Superintendent of Operations, overseeing nearly 1,800 road troopers assigned to state police stations throughout New Jersey. Callahan has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for the New Jersey State Police and has held various assignments in the Administration Section overseeing budget and fiscal responsibilities associated with the division. He was also assigned to the Homeland Security branch and assisted in the planning and distribution of the federal homeland security funding awarded to the state and its 21 counties in the wake of 9/11. Callahan is also a graduate of the 243rd FBI National Academy Session where he was elected session president.
“We have a constant reminder about those who put others before themselves, that left the comfort of their home, that left the comfort of their station, that left families behind because they took an oath to go out and serve, even knowing that they may lose their life,” Callahan said of the first responders of 9/11. “These women and men (who laid down their lives) did it for people that they didn’t know. Sometimes the things that we do forget is how many thousands of lives were saved on that day because of a handful of women and men that ran to those towers.”
Founded in 1990, the 200 Club of Burlington County is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide financial assistance to the families of fallen or injured members of the state police, county and municipal police, fire or emergency medical services serving the citizens of Burlington County.
“It’s about the firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, military members, civilians and all our brothers and sisters who gave their lives that day (Sept. 11),” said club trustee Pete Clifford. “It’s about the families left behind, the husbands, the wives, the mothers, the fathers, the sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who have carried that loss with them every single day for the past 25 years. When we say, ‘never forget,’ we mean more than remembering the date. We mean remembering the people. Remember their sacrifice. Remember the extraordinary courage shown by ordinary people when our country needed them the most.”
