SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A church in Schenectady held a 9/11 ceremony tribute Tuesday to the brave men and women that served during that time.

"It was kind of a surreal feeling,” said Lt. Colonel Warren Ratis.

Maybe no one saw the carnage that day quite like Ratis.

"They didn't have anything looking down into the pits that were the collapsed buildings," said Ratis.

Years prior, the civil air pilot worked inside the Twin Towers — but on the day following the devastation, he found himself on the outside looking in.

“I felt choked up because it brings back those memories," said Ratis.

He was charged with a mission for the government: to aid in photographing the aftermath.

He says the images from the air were as solemn as they were on the ground.

"Not a thing was moving. Not a leaf, not a car, not a person, not a plane,” said Ratis.

Ratis and his crew were able to locate the cockpit from the plane that hit the tower. They provided over 100 classified pictures to U.S. intelligence agencies — images that will be forever minted in history.

Ratis now works for Homeland Security at JFK airport.

He says that what he does every day helps him heal and to honor those who serve, both past and present.

"It's my little piece to keep this from happening again,” said Ratis.