9-11 - Pentagon Memories

A Memorial Service Grows to Become a Longer-lasting Remembrance

Following the 9-11 attacks, I was one of the clergy participating in a memorial service at the Pentagon near the place where the plane struck the facility. The memories of that day will stay with me the rest of my life.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Editor's Note: On September 11, 2001 I was still a bishop in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Living in Northern Virginia near the Pentagon, I was fully involved in providing pastoral support for parishioners and clergy under my care as we waded through a most harrowing time. A few days later, I had the privilege of being one of the clergy participating in a memorial service near the impact point at the Pentagon. Here is the article I wrote in 2001 about the event.

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The rain had just subsided and the sun was poking through the clouds as our little procession of ministers and people began its trek down Columbia Pike toward a grassy knoll opposite the devastating remains that once was a wall of the Pentagon. We walked behind one of our clergy carrying a cross.

Slowly processing along the south side of Ft. Myers, we traveled up an incline that obstructed the view of the destination. Suddenly it was there before us as we crested the hill. No longer footage on Fox or CNN but in living ash and gray, we saw the wound where people died and terror had its day - the Pentagon crash site.

Our work that day was to offer a memorial for those who had perished. We carried our Bibles, prayer books, and 200 yellow roses by which the dead would be remembered. On the grass near the crash site we gathered will several hundred mourners.

We read the psalms, we prayed, we placed the roses on the ground in rows, hoping the image of these flowers could also be seen by those laboring in the ruins, a sign that someone was remembering. At the end of the service I spoke. "Today we are doing what the church always does.

Even when events like this unfold, the church doesn't change its way. She continues on, making her way known to those around; to offer prayer, pastoral comfort in the Name of Christ, and the sacraments." We all shared together in praying the 23rd Psalm, "the LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want..." Thankfully, we were a changeless church for changing times.

I remember saying to myself, "Don't forget this image. Don't lose this memory. Don't forget this day." I had hoped this would make a lasting impact for our city, our nation, and especially those impacted by the tragedy.

As we left the memorial service those few days earlier, many people came up to us and thanked us for holding this service. Uniformed military personnel, some who had been on duty at the Pentagon and others who had witnessed it from nearby shared their stories and wonder that more damaged had not been done.

Returning a few days later, I crested the same hill and was startled by what I saw. Our roses were still there but had wilted. It really didn't mater as they were now joined by thousands of other flowers. In addition, wreaths, flags, candles, photos of loved ones also adorned the hillside along with messages of love written on cardboard signs.

What had begun as a simple memorial service had now grown both in size and scope. The entire hill had been transformed into a long lasting site of remembrance.

For the shaken and confused who had felt the personal impact of the attack, the changeless church had again become a source of comfort and care.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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