The Streets of Heaven Are Too Crowded with Angels

What can we say about heroes? On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, America experienced the single worst foreign attack on our soil when planes commandeered by feckless cowards flew headlong into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. This was shortly followed by a plane slamming into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and Flight 93 crashing into a field in Shanksville, PA. From such craven and dastardly acts came a realization of American Exceptionalism and heroism that has sustained us as a people in the decade following.

Focusing on the attack and the reasons why are for another day. Today we focus on the people who without hesitation rushed into the burning towers, aided the injured at the Pentagon and subdued the hijackers on Flight 93. It is their remarkable and selfless actions that we celebrate and hold up as examples of true heroism. A total of 2,977 innocent victims perished that September morning but live on in the hearts and memories of family and friends.

Today we must remember them not as victims but as fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and colleagues.

Mychal F. Judge, OFM was a Roman Catholic priest, Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York, and the first certified fatality of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit, Father Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered the Last Rites to some lying on the streets, and then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center North Tower, where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.

When the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., debris went flying through the North Tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. At the moment he was struck in the head and killed, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!” according to Judge's biographer and New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly. He rushed into the fire to tend to the victims never once pausing to contemplate his own safety or mortality.

Father Judge was not alone running into the fire, he was joined by hundreds of police and fire personnel who placed duty and others above themselves, and 411 of them never exited the towers.

As Father Judge perished administering to his flock, the passengers of United Flight 93 were aware of the burning towers and Pentagon. After the hijackers took control of the aircraft passengers and crew began making phone calls to officials and family members using air phones and mobile phones.

Ten passengers and two crew members were able to successfully connect, providing information to family, friends, and others on the ground. Among these was Tom Burnett who was in contact with his wife. During their call she made him aware of the Pentagon and towers. He relayed this information to the other passengers and they determined that their flight was headed for the same fate. Rather than sit back and be hapless victims, the passengers and crew decided to take control of the plane. Todd Beamer’s now famous quote of “let’s roll” as the passengers fought back against the hijackers has earned a place in our great history. In the days following the crash in Shanksville it was speculated that the White House was the intended target of the hijackers. Forty passengers and crew gave their lives selflessly on flight 93.

These are but a few examples of American Exceptionalism in the face of this unprovoked attack on our way of life, our values, our country and our spirit. Following the initial attacks, thousands of volunteers rushed to NY, Virginia and Pennsylvania to assist in the search and rescue of victims, people of different faiths prayed together, children were held a little closer and we all stood tall in the face of great adversity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 were under a deluded impression that this would bring us to our knees; they were sadly mistaken.

We all feel the profound sorrow of loss, but what followed that fateful day defines us as a people and a nation. Through tragedy we found a new sense of pride. Instead of cowering as our enemy hoped, we refused to yield and came together as one. Selflessness and courage defined the American people in the hours, days and weeks following 9/11. A decade later that spirit and selflessness must be remembered and celebrated.

The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars. We know their names, we must never forget. They rest in the warm embrace of the gracious creator of us all; a healing embrace that allows their eyes to see the simple, self-evident, common-sense truth that is made manifest by the benevolent creator of us all and was written down on paper by wise men, tolerant men, in the city of Philadelphia over 200 years ago.

The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels. God bless their memory, God have mercy on us all and God bless America.