Twenty-five years later, Islanders commemorate 9/11

An American flag hung suspended in the air from a firetruck ladder as local first responders and community members gathered outside of the Oak Bluffs Fire Station Friday morning to commemorate and remember the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The ceremony started with a moment of silence, followed by the tolling of the bell, which honored the nearly 3,000 victims, including 343 firefighters, who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. 

The tolling of the bell holds extra significance for firefighters. Before telephones or radios, the toll of a bell was used to announce the beginning of a shift, summon firefighters to the station, signal when a job was complete, and notify neighboring departments for help.

The American flag was lowered to half-staff, and the crowd solemnly listened to the speeches and prayers delivered by various community members.

Father Joseph Pasala, pastor of the Good Shepherd Parish on the Island, led the audience with a prayer. 

“God of love, you place in your loving arms thousands of innocent lives that were lost on that unforgettable morning of September 11, 2001. We all remember the courage of the countless men and women who put their lives at risk,” Pasala said. “Help us to continue to work for a world free from every form of hatred, violence, and ignorance, bad terrorism and all its forms disappear from the face of the Earth.”

Brian Patrick Hall, a senior firefighter for Oak Bluffs’ department, recited the “Firefighter’s Prayer,” a traditional poem recited by firefighters asking for strength and protection while on duty.

On display at the ceremony was a painting by artist Peggy Weis. The work depicts newspaper images of victims of the attack as well as Osama bin Laden — founder of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. — against the backdrop of an American flag. Randy Weis, Peggy’s husband, recalled how she created the painting immediately after the attacks.

“In that evening, she disappeared to the upper floor of our house, where she had a small studio, and she didn’t emerge for about a week,” he said. “She was up there creating, and it was her way of dealing with what happened on 9/11.”

Randy said that the painting, which used to hang in his office in New York, will now remain displayed on the Vineyard.

Peggy, whose grandparents died in the Holocaust, emphasized to The Times the power of images depicting tragic events, such as 9/11 and the Holocaust.

“Imagery really brings back the feelings. You can tell somebody over and over again that they used gas chambers and put people into it, but when you see the pictures and movies of the people actually doing it, it makes it all so much more real,” she said.

Hall, who was a senior in high school during 9/11, told The Times that the attacks spurred him to become a firefighter.

“It’s a terrible tragedy, but it brought our country together, and we got through it together,” Hall said.

Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle was at home on paternity leave with his 17-day-old daughter, Emma, during the attacks. He recalled the unsettling quiet of that day. 

“Beautiful day, probably a bluer sky than today but still no wind. It was eerily quiet until we heard the roar of the fighter jets leaving Otis Air [National Guard] Base [in Sandwich], flying over the Island, full afterburners in effect. It put a shiver down your spine and it was like, “Are we at war? Are we not at war? What is actually going on here?,” Searle said.

Twenty-five years later, Searle expressed his worries about people no longer remembering 9/11.

“We all said we’ll never forget, and it just seems to me that a lot of people have forgotten or just never even were taught about it,” Searle said. “History repeats itself, and that’s something that concerns me in this day and age.”