Service and sacrifice made on Sept. 11, 2001, honored at Mass

A giant American flag is held aloft from the ladders of two fire trucks parked in front of St. Mary Church in Indianapolis on Sept. 11 before a Mass celebrated to honor the service of all emergency responders, and especially those who lost their lives responding to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, D.C. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Two fire trucks, with their tall ladders extended holding aloft a giant American flag, were parked in front of St. Mary Church in downtown Indianapolis on Sept. 11 as worshippers gathered for a Mass in remembrance of firefighters, police officers and other public safety workers who gave their lives while responding to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., eight years ago on Sept. 11, 2001.

Dozens of emergency responders came in uniform to the Mass, along with Indianapolis Fire Department Chief Brian Sanford, Indianapolis Metropolitan Chief of Police Michael Spears, Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

They were joined by many other Mass-goers who came to show their appreciation for their service.

“It was moving,” said Jeanine Adkins, a member of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in Indianapolis. “I was glad to see the community come together. I just feel like everybody should embrace the day and show their pride.”

Father Aaron Jenkins, chaplain of the Indianapolis Fire Department, was the primary celebrant at the Mass. He was assisted by student altar servers from Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School in Indianapolis, where he also serves as chaplain. (Related: Photo gallery from this event | Purchase photo reprints)

In his homily, Father Jenkins praised the public safety workers who died eight years ago.

“The faith of these men and women drove them into a bad situation to help those in need,” he said. “ … Their faith, however small, led them to save and defend life. This meant, in many cases, that they had to give their lives for others.

“ … It is a true act of love. They laid down their lives to save another.”

Father Jenkins’ words echoed Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

It is those words that Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Baughman, a member of Holy Spirit Parish in Indianapolis, said are at the heart of the service given by emergency responders.

“If you break it all the way down and drill all the way into it, that’s the core,” he said before the Mass. “That’s the soul of what we do.”

Baughman, 48, is a 22-year member of the Indianapolis Fire Department, and was a close witness to the meaning of Jesus’ words.

He was a member of Indiana Task Force 1, which arrived to assist at ground zero in New York just 15 hours after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

A father of three, Baughman’s offer to serve on the task force, nonetheless, was immediate.

“I thought this morning of how it must have been for my family for me to leave right in the middle of what was going on in the country,” Baughman said. “We weren’t flying planes. We didn’t know what was next. And here I packed up, and my wife … was taking care of our young children.

“ … I said, ‘Yes, I’ll go do this.’ I didn’t realize at the time that I really didn’t ask my family. They just thought that it was time for me to go.”

Because of the massive loss of life at the World Trade Center—2,752 people died—Baughman and the members of Task Force 1 weren’t able to do the rescue work for which they were trained. He said, though, that there was still value to their presence at ground zero.

“It was important to make sure that we let the community and the country and the world know that, as firefighters, we’re there to back each other up,” Baughman said. “We all know that, in that situation, most people think we’re a different breed because we run into buildings when everybody else is running out.”

Before the Mass, Ballard, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, spoke about the importance of honoring such self-sacrifice.

“It’s very difficult for me to talk about that, to be honest with you,” Ballard said. “It could have been me. I was in the Gulf War, and I was in Panama for some tough times, too.

“So everybody who comes through and survives really needs to remember. And we really want everybody within the city and across the country to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.”

Because of the almost Christ-like service that emergency responders give to each other and the broader community, Baughman thought it was important for them to come together on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

“We should never forget,” he said. “We firefighters and police officers who come to this [Mass] should always be able to look [at each other] and know that we’re each other’s brothers. We’re taking care of each other.” †