by Jessica Easthope
MIDTOWN, N.Y. — Twenty-five years ago, the attacks of September 11 took thousands of lives — and through the courage of first responders and ordinary people, thousands more were saved.
The memorial at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Midtown Manhattan honors them. It was the first erected inside a house of worship, a redesign now gives it renewed purpose.
“Their bodies died but our memory of them will always live,” said pastor, Father Brian Jordan.
On Aug. 11, Father Jordan unveiled the updated memorial. At its heart is death certificate number one — FDNY Chaplain Fr. Mychal Judge.
“To hear his name spoken today was so important to me,” said longtime parishioner Linda Spartonos. “In a world of people called heroes that really don’t deserve to be called heroes — this man was truly a hero.”
Father Judge was killed by falling debris in the North Tower as the South Tower collapsed. Retired FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer was by his side as he took his last breath.
“I was the last one to see him, but the real memory was him praying in the lobby for all of us. I never saw anybody pray so hard in their lives,” Pfeifer said.
But no falling debris nor tons of mangled steel could keep down the spirit of Father Judge. It came to retired firefighter and sculptor Dennis Burke — inspiring the art he gifted to the church, “Brotherhood 9/11.”
“It essentially took, 20 years. I started it as a, kind of a vehicle for self-healing. This is where it belongs,” Burke said.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James says a quarter of a century later — the commitment to remember never fades.
“Firefighters and police officers and individuals who basically went to save others. They made the ultimate sacrifice for us. And we should really never forget them,” James said.
The memorial is for every family who lost someone — and for every New Yorker.