Fire Commissioner Miguel Rivera gives his remarks in front of the Sept. 11 memorial.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — Blue and red lights danced on the dark water of the Connecticut River on the evening of Sept. 11. A crowd of more than 100 people stood silently for several minutes, with only the sound of the crickets and the breeze along the riverfront. Then the sirens cut through the stillness and the lights began to move as emergency vehicles crossed over Memorial Bridge to mourn the firefighters, police and EMS personnel who died 25 years earlier in the terrorist attacks of 2001.
While one person after another stepped to the podium and the speaking program continued, the sun sank over the horizon. It was faint at first, but soon, the two spotlights in front of the World Trade Center beam, each carefully placed at different heights and angles, revealed shadows on the wall inscribed with the names of the 498 first responders who died on 9/11. An echo of the twin towers became clear against the curved memorial.
“I’ve seen monuments, quite a few around the country, and nothing compares to this,” retired Fire Commissioner Gary Cassanelli said, standing in front of the memorial. Patrick Sullivan, retired executive director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management, said the city had requested a piece of the World Trade Center four times before being approved on the fifth attempt. He and Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt spent nearly two years working to identify a fitting memorial design. Architects Sam Ostroff and Bruce Rosenbaum designed the memorial, which was dedicated in 2019. Business owner Frank Colaccino was recognized for spearheading the fundraising for Springfield’s 9/11 memorial.
“This monument will always hold a very special place in my heart because it represents a promise — a promise that Springfield will remember,” Sullivan said. “The steel survived Sept. 11, these names remind us who answered the call, and these twin tower shadows remind us that, although buildings can fall, memories does not have to.”
Fire Commissioner Miguel Rivera spoke about the lasting impact of 9/11. “Our country experienced one of the darkest days in American history. And for those who lived through Sept. 11, 2001, there are images you’re never going to forget, and you’re never going to forget where you were, you’re not going to forget who you were with. And you’re going to remember watching the television, wondering and not quite understanding what was happening, and knowing that, after those images crossed that TV screen, nothing would ever be the same.”
Springfield Fire Lt. Daniel Keenan, now retired, was one of the Massachusetts firefighters who answered the call to help with rescue efforts at Ground Zero. He remembered working with a rescue squad of 80 firefighters, hazmat crews and support personnel. “We arrived at a place almost impossible to comprehend. This was my hell on earth, if there was one … There were no chairs, desks, phones, everything, including the innocent people inside were gone. The collapse of the twin towers obliterated everything.” He said, “We searched because people needed to be found. We worked because families were waiting.”
The lost
On 9/11, 2,977 people died. Emcee Anthony Cignoli said that in the years since, that number has risen to 5,892, as people still die of illnesses related to the smoke and chemicals people were exposed to that day.
“The people in those trade towers, the people in the Pentagon and the people who were on that plane that crashed in Pennsylvania — they were not enemy combatants. They were innocents. The crime perpetrated against them by evil forces in another part of the world cannot and should never be forgotten,” U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said via a recorded video message.
Bishop Bruce Shaw of New Hope Pentecostal Church, a retired major in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, remembered friends who he had worked with at the Pentagon — one who died when the plane hit and another who was saved by a moment of happenstance that delayed her from returning to her desk.
That day, 343 New York firefighters died, along with police and EMS workers. Rivera mentioned Manuel Del Valle Jr., who went down to Ground Zero despite finishing his shift. He also called out Keith Roma, a member of the New York City Fire Patrol, who made three trips into the towers to guide people to safety and died on his fourth trip, along with the nine civilians he was leading. “He is what we call the forgotten firefighter,” Rivera said. “Make no mistake, he was a firefighter and he will forever be a hero.”
Mayor Domenic Sarno remarked, “Our men and women in blue, our fire department, our first responders, ambulance responders, port authority, you name it, without hesitation, they ran in to save lives, many of them knowing that they weren’t going to come back out,” Sarno said. “But each and every one of them, God rest their souls, would say this, ‘I was just doing my job.’”
Coming together
“I hate this day … I hate remembering standing in that small restaurant in Indian Orchard fixed to a 19-inch television as the first plane and then the second plane struck our towers,” Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers said, also remembering the Pentagon being hit and the passengers on United flight 93, who stormed the cockpit and brought the plane down before it could be used to kill more people.” He said, “I hate standing in front of you 25 years later and still feeling the emotions of an event that changed our country forever.”
Akers said that as much as he hates the tragedy, he loves the way Americans came together in its wake. “For a brief moment, no one seemed to care about the differences that divide us.” He then asked, “What happened? What happened to that sense of unity? What happened to the feeling that, despite our differences, we’re all on the same team. Somewhere along the way, we started focusing more on what separates us, than what brings us together.” Akers added, “The terrorists who attacked us 25 years ago … they wanted to divide us, they wanted to break us, and they wanted to make us afraid … We shouldn’t allow ourselves to accomplish what they failed to do.”
Rivera also spoke about the spirit of unity in the response to 9/11. He recalled people responded by volunteering, becoming firefighters or police and helping their neighbors. He said, “We disagree. We can come from different neighborhoods, cultures, religions and political beliefs. But when our country and our communities need us, we are still capable of coming together.”
Rivera turned his comments to the generation of Americans who were either too young to remember or had not yet been born on 9/11. “We have to teach it to the young people and teach them what happened. They need to know who we lost, how we responded and what this country looked like when we decided that we were stronger together than we are divided.” Sarno also said he would like to see more of that spirit of togetherness in today’s divided political climate.
Top row, from left: The plaque in front of Springfield’s Sept. 11 memorial. Mayor Domenic Sarno speaks at the ceremony for the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11. Retired Springfield Fire Lt. Daniel Keenan was among the many from Massachusetts who responded to Ground Zero. Bottom row, from left: Lights shining on an I-beam from the World Trade Center cast shadows representing the twin towers that were destroyed on Sept. 11. The American flag hangs from fire trucks at the entrance to Riverfront Park at the Sept. 11 memorial service.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen
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