AMC honors fallen from 9/11 attack

By Bill Doyle
CFP Correspondent
PAXTON - Anna Maria College usually holds a modest 9/11 ceremony on campus with its fire science students. In anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Deacon John “Jack” Franchi approached President Mary Lou Retelle about conducting another tribute.
She asked him if he was volunteering to organize it and he said he’d be honored to do it. President Retelle’s only request was that the ceremony be more significant than in past years.
So, last January Deacon Franchi began planning. He had spent 33 years in the U.S. Air Force before he became a deacon, and he had organized air shows and retirement ceremonies, so he knew what to do. He put together an elaborate, 70-minute interfaith tribute last Saturday at the college, that he called, “Operation Patriotism.” He estimated 600-800 people attended.
“He not only took on the responsibility, he went above and beyond any expectation,” President Retelle said.
“It was a labor of love, but I think it helped develop core values in the young people,” said Deacon Franchi, who is a chaplain on campus. “At this ceremony, at this tribute, you saw Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, all together for one reason and one reason only, to pay respects to 9/11. And, to me, we don’t see enough of that.
“And we did it at Anna Maria, a small, little Catholic college of 1,000 undergrads. They melded all of their time and their talent. I didn’t do anything. It was all them.... Everybody contributed to this.”
Many of the students had not been born yet when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania, but they contributed to the ceremony nevertheless. The fire science students conducted a bell-ringing tribute for the fallen firefighters. A 30-piece student orchestra provided music for more than an hour before the ceremony. Anna Maria sophomore Chloe Paniko sang the national anthem.
The ceremony was held in the morning at Caparso Field before the Anna Maria football team lost its season opener, 27-23, to Nichols College. Anna Maria football coach Dan Mulrooney had 9/11 stickers made that were applied to the helmets of both teams.
The Anna Maria football team, women’s soccer team and women’s volleyball team attended the ceremonies.
Students also planted 2,977 American flags, one for each of the lives lost on 9/11, beside the football stadium, and 40 larger American flags along Sunset Drive leading into campus. Deacon Franchi said that Home Depot in Auburn donated the flags and bunting that was draped in front of the grandstand.
“As you came on campus you were just deluged with patriotism. There were flags everywhere,” he said.
“Frankly, I think it was one of the most moving, emotional and relevant events that we’ve had at Anna Maria,” President Retelle said, “but it speaks so much to the type of student that we educate here and the alumni that represent Anna Maria going forward with the emergency responders and the public service sector.”
President Retelle said many students told her how happy they were to have participated and were so proud of the college for holding what is believed to be the largest 9/11 tribute in the Worcester area.
The family of former Worcester resident Tara Creamer, who was among the 92 victims on American Airlines Flight 11 which crashed into the north tower, were guests at the tribute and later served as honorary co-captains for the coin toss before the football game. The toss was made with a specially made challenge coin. On one side was the college logo and the number 75 in honor of the college’s 75th year. Printed on the other side was “Operation Patriotism,” along with “Never Forget” next to an image of the twin towers.
John Creamer, who was Tara’s husband, presented to the college an encased Ground Zero flag with a certificate of authenticity from the 9/11 Commission in New York City. Mr. Creamer told the crowd he couldn’t cope with visiting New York so he was grateful that Anna Maria provided him with a way to remember the anniversary.
“As he said, ‘Now Anna Maria feels part of the family,’” President Retelle recalled.
Anna Maria junior Juliet Leask, president of the fire science class, presented a floral arrangement to Nora Creamer, Tara’s daughter.
Former NECN anchor Mike Nikitas was master of ceremonies. Anna Maria alumnus Ed Davis, retired Boston Police Commissioner, served as keynote speaker.
Home Depot also donated a “Freedom Tree,” a silver maple that was on display during the ceremony and planted on campus between the Socquet House and the Sciences Building on Monday in memory of the lives lost on 9/11. Deacon Franchi said that, thanks to the generosity of Empire Granite and Worcester County Memorial Park, a four-foot high, 1,500-pound granite monument will be placed near the tree, with the engraving, “The Freedom Tree, Operation Patriotism, September 11, 2021. A living tribute to all those lost September 11, 2001.” He expects memorials will be held on the site in future years. Father Richard F. Reidy, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia, blessed the tree.
Father William Schipper, pastor at Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer, and Father David W. Cotter, administrator at St. Columba Parish in Paxton and Anna Maria chaplain, also attended. So did the Rev. Jane Willan, pastor at the First Congregational Church of Paxton, and Steven Schimmel, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts.
Father Paul T. O’Connell, diocesan associate judicial vicar, gave the invocation that was written by retired Deacon Anthony R. Surozenski, who was ill and could not attend. Deacon Surozenski is a former fire chaplain in Webster who helped out at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the attack.
Several local, state and federal officials joined President Retelle and Nichols College president Glenn M. Sulmasy at the tribute, including U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., state Rep. Kim Ferguson of Holden and state Sen. Anne Gobi of Spencer. Representatives from the police departments in Worcester, Holden, Paxton and Rutland were also on hand.
The 104th Tactical Fighter Group of the Massachusetts Air National Guard conducted a flyover with two F15s. Deacon Franchi said he didn’t know of another flyover at a college in the Northeast that day to honor 9/11.
In honor of the 184 military personnel who died on 9/11, the Holden Police Department presented a gun salute and Anna Maria junior Christopher Hanks performed taps and echo taps to end the program.
“It says a lot for the makeup of a college,” Deacon Franchi said, “the students of a college, the staff of a college, the faculty of a college. The fact that all of these people … came together to put on this magnificent tribute to such a worthy cause is so significant. Mary Lou said, ‘Jack I want something significant,’ and that’s what we did, we did something very, very significant. Something that will be in the annals of Anna Maria for years and years to come.”
           
Photo by Patrick O'Connor | Courtesy of Anna Maria College