Hundreds of motorcyclists gathered Saturday morning in Blue Springs, Missouri, for a ride honoring Assistant Fire Chief Harold Hollingsworth, a Fort Osage firefighter and Missouri National Guard veteran who died in the line of duty, timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Riders departed the Outlaw Harley-Davidson dealership at 11 a.m. and traveled through Buckner, Napoleon, Wellington and Lexington before concluding at the Branded Outdoor Theater in Richmond.
The event, called the 25th Anniversary 9-11 Tribute to Heroes Ride, drew a massive pack of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and raised funds for people lost in the line of duty, according to KCTV. Organizer Kyle Harrison said organizers thanked first responders, bikers and everyone involved in pulling off the event, which the station reports took a full year to plan. Registration for the day included a $5 pancake breakfast, and the morning's events featured a blessing of the bikes before riders hit the road.
A Chief Remembered by Family and Fellow Firefighters
Hollingsworth was an assistant fire chief with the Fort Osage Fire Protection District when he died on April 7, 2013, after his department vehicle slid off the road and struck a tree during a severe thunderstorm while he was responding to a structure fire in rural Jackson County, according to FireRescue1. He was 47 years old. The crash marked the first line-of-duty death in the history of the Fort Osage Fire Protection District, which covers 110 square miles across northeastern Jackson County and operates three stations serving Buckner, Levasy, Sibley, River Bend and surrounding rural areas, per Fort Osage Fire Protection District records.
Hollingsworth had built a long record of public service before his death. He began his military service in 1986 with the Missouri Army National Guard's 110th Combat Engineers and spent 16 years with Fort Osage as a firefighter and paramedic before being promoted to assistant chief in 2010, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation also honors Hollingsworth.
At Saturday's event, the Hollingsworth family was asked to present the ride's donated funds to the Missouri Firefighters Memorial Foundation, KCTV5 Staff reported. Ride proceeds honored Hollingsworth and will be donated to the foundation, which maintains the Missouri Fire Fighters Memorial in Kingdom City. Organizers said they plan to hold the ride again next year and in subsequent years.
A Statue With Roots in the September 11 Attacks
The Kingdom City memorial itself carries an unusual tie to September 11. The site was formally dedicated on May 18, 2002, featuring four granite memorial walls and a Wall of Honor bearing the names of Missouri firefighters killed in the line of duty, according to the Fire Fighters Memorial Foundation of Missouri. The original bronze kneeling firefighter statue created for the memorial had been donated as a gift to New York City shortly before the 2001 attacks, becoming a site of comfort for the city in their aftermath, which prompted Missouri organizers to order a second identical casting from Italy for the Kingdom City dedication.
The Missouri Firefighters Memorial Foundation will hold its annual service in October, and the chief of the New York City Fire Department is scheduled to speak at that gathering, according to KCTV5 Staff. The appearance underscores the continuing bond between Missouri first responders and FDNY a quarter-century after the attacks. Missouri is also marking the anniversary more broadly: the 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit is scheduled to be hosted at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City from September 10 to 13, honoring the 343 FDNY firefighters lost that day, per the Missouri Division of Fire Safety.
Part of a Growing Regional Tradition
Saturday's ride follows a similar predecessor event held in 2025. That ride, held on September 6, 2025, traveled from Higginsville to Richmond to raise funds for the Missouri Firefighters Memorial, according to West Central Electric Cooperative. The 2026 ride began in Blue Springs and ended in Richmond.
Nationally, firefighter line-of-duty deaths have trended downward over recent decades even as new hazards emerge. The National Fire Protection Association recorded 65 on-duty firefighter fatalities across the United States in 2025, consistent with a broader multi-decade decline in operational deaths, though occupational illnesses such as cancer now account for a growing share of line-of-duty memorial recognitions, according to the National Fire Protection Association. For Jackson County riders and the family Hollingsworth left behind, the Saturday, September 5, 2026, procession offered a local, personal counterpoint to that national statistic — a reminder that behind every number is a name still carried forward by those who knew him.
