"Never Forget" is more than a slogan to group of retired NYPD officers who meet in Broward several times a year

Ten times a year, retired New York City police officers gather at the Moose Lodge in Tamarac.

They now live hundreds of miles away from the city they once protected. But there are some things distance, and even 25 years, cannot erase.

"It was like you were in a Twilight Zone. Nothing seemed real. Everything seemed fake," said retired NYPD Detective Joseph LaMassa. "Everything was silent, stood still, and you just had this cloud. And it was just a weird feeling. And the smell. The smell, it's something I could think about it and smell it."

They each remember that day a little differently.

"I remember the dust. The quietness of it, almost like a snow," recalled retired NYPD Sgt. Daniel Farrell.

Farrell was off duty because he needed a car repair. He immediately rushed in to help.

Philip Valles had already been off the force for a few years at that point when the call came in for every available officer, active or retired. He grabbed gloves, a hat and a shovel and headed south.

"When I was on the way down there, I just couldn't believe my eyes," Valles remembered. "When I got there, Building 7 just fell right in front of me."

Ryan Dean remembers this flag found in the rubble.

He says he propped it in a tree next to Ground Zero before noon that very day. It was on the cover of the paper on September 12.

"It needed to fly," Dean insisted. "It was just laying in the rubble, and I said, 'No, this flag has to fly,' especially because we're under attack."

But 25 years later, their stories of 9/11 are no longer only about the attacks. They're about everything that came after.

"I have to think about it because I have 9/11 bladder cancer," said retired NYPD Sgt. Michael Calabrese. "I lost my bladder because of the toxins from 9/11. I lost my brother to 9/11 brain cancer. So it hit my family pretty hard."

Calabrese says his faith is what's gotten him through the treatments and surgeries.

Farrell is also a cancer survivor. LaMassa says the health scares and the losses continue for many who were there.

"Don't forget us," LaMassa pleads. "We were there. We took care of the people. We seen the suffering. We've been through it."

That's why the meetings at the Moose Lodge matter so much.

The group is called Broward 10-13.  That's the NYPD radio code for an officer in need of assistance.

Years after they last patrolled New York, they're still answering that call for each other.

"It's a brother and sisterhood," Farrell said. "I think it's a way to help mental health-wise, where we relate to each other."

"We're the only other people that can understand what we went through," Dean explained.

This month's meeting began as many have before – with a pledge, a prayer and a moment of silence for those no longer sitting beside them.

"I can't tell you how many friends I've lost in the last five, six years. This stays in your head," Calabrese said. "It doesn't end. Every time you turn around, there's another one suffering."

"More people have died than the people that perished, around 3,000 plus died on that day," Valles said. "More people have died from the disease, from cancers."

There is now an entire generation with no memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

But for the Broward 10-13, "Never Forget" isn't just a slogan. It's the reality they've been living for a quarter century.

"I think people ought to remember the spirit that the city had at the time of 9/11. Everyone was together," Dean said. "There was no us against them. Everyone was together."

"For those of us that were involved, we'll never forget," Farrell added. "I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everybody that remembers."