On the morning of September 11th, 2001, I had naively assumed that the airplane that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York did so in some bizarre accident that would have seemed impossible. When the second Saudi terrorist-piloted airplane flew into the North Tower, it became very apparent this was a deliberate and malicious act that should have been met with the same fury that ended the war with Japan in decades previous.
Above is a photo of Father Mychal Judge being carried away by the firemen whom he served as chaplain.
As firefighters rushed into the burning buildings, they were accompanied by their chaplain, Fr. Mychal Judge. Hundreds of them would die that day, among the nearly three thousand fatalities in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Fr. Judge would be among them. There seemed to be special meaning in the fact that Fr. Mychal was listed as the first certified casualty of 9/11. A photograph of his fellow firemen carrying his body from the wreckage to a neighboring church became an icon of that day: an image of loving service and sacrifice, a hopeful answer to messages born of fear and fanaticism.
He went to serve. He was a force of good on a day that would see so much chaos hence.
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