North County Responders Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary
 Police Officer Albert Zoito, left, Mollie, NAAS manager John Meaney Jr., Officer Kelly Wisnowski and Cheshire Fire Chief Thomas Francesconi lay the wreath. More photos here. |
"We remember the day, the week, the time; we all for a time became one, we were all New Yorkers, we were all citizens of America," said the Rev. David Anderson, pastor of First Baptist Church of North Adams and chaplain to the North Adams Fire Department. "We were neither Democrat nor Republican, there were no different walks of life ... The many things that seemed to divide us had little influence over us in those days following 9/11. We were for that moment in time, one nation, under God."
Arranged around a slope filled with small wooden crosses symbolizing each fallen firefighter, police officer, emergency medical technician and lone K-9 rescue dog, local police, fire and emergency medical technicians bowed their heads in a moment of silence for not only comrades but the many innocent victims.
Anderson noted that a moment of silence for each of the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks would mean "you and I would remain in silence here in this place until midafternoon Tuesday. Fifty hours of moments of silence."
While only a few of the names were known here, Berkshirites may still be connected to those events, said North Adams Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco, through people they know — from family members serving overseas to friends and relatives who watched the devastation unfold to Berkshire volunteers who helped at Ground Zero.
 |
He said he was haunted by two pictures, one of a new president at an elementary school pondering what to do next, the other, a "baby-faced" firefighter storming up the stairs in the North Tower.
Nearly 3,000 people died in attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and on Flight 93, but Florida firefighter David Burdick stressed that the casualties have continued to climb — from the citizens and responders afflicted with health issues from the collapse of the towers to the thousands of servicemen killed and injured in the ensuing wars.
State police Lt. William Blackmer reminded the gathering that it wasn't just Americans killed but people from 90 other nations.
"Yes, it was an attack on the United States of America but it was also an attack on humanity, an attack on freedom, an attack on our way of life," said Blackmer, commander of the Cheshire barracks. "The soulless cowards who murdered so many people are now a footnote in history ... they are dust in the wind; the victims of 9/11 will live on forever, in our memory and in our history."
 The speakers faced rows of crosses symbolizing the fallen responders. |
The ceremony included the guest speakers, Morocco, Blackmer and Anderson; opening and closing prayers by the Rev. Roy Burdick; a color guard and honor guard; the ringing of "last call" by North Adams Fire Director Steven Meranti; several songs sung by Staci Downey and by the Florida Baptist Church Choir; readings of prayers for each unit by Florida Fire Chief Michael Bedini, North Adams Police Officer Lt. David Sacco, Zoito and Village Ambulance General Manager Shawn Godfrey; and the laying of a wreath.
At the end of the ceremony, those attending stood at attention "beside" their fallen comrades, within the rows of crosses.
"They were called; they were needed and they responded," said Anderson.
A reception was held afterward at the Senior Center; the organizers thank Big Y Supermarket (which donated the flag hung from the ladder truck), Williams College Food Service, North Adams Fire Department and color guard, the Florida Veterans Memorial Committee, Stan Brown and all participating agencies.
Tags: first responders, terror attacks,
