Ground Zero Pastor Speaks At September 11th Memorial

Every year the trees grow taller at the Garden of Reflection and the crowds get smaller, but the names of the 18 Bucks Countians killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks never fades.

More than 1,000 people, including emergency responders from throughout the county, took part in a candlelight vigil at the official September 11th memorial for Pennsylvania.

Lyndon Harris, the former Pastor of St Paul’s Chapel near Ground Zero in New York, spoke to the gathered crowd of the 240 days he spent aiding rescue workers and recovery teams following the attacks on the World Trade Center.

“It was clear a miracle had happened,” Harris said about the church not being destroyed when the towers collapsed. “St. Paul’s Chapel survived because we had work to do.”

He told the story of an elderly lady who hustled from the Bronx through police lines around Ground Zero to the church. All she wanted, Harris said, was to drop off her cane so an emergency responder she heard suffered a leg injury could use it.

At St. Paul’s Chapel, Harris and his team served meals and offered various services to those working at the Ground Zero site. He fought with the health department to try to keep the serving line open before being shut down and offering a monthly potluck dinner.

The work following the attacks took a toll on Harris. He told the crowd he lost his wife, his house to foreclosure and became bitter. However, he overcame those challenges and learned to “spread the love,” encouraging everyone to do the same.

Locally, 18 residents of Bucks County perished in the attacks.

Michael A. Bane – Yardley

Lorraine Bay – Langhorne

James P. Berger – Lower Makefield

Jeffrey M. Chairnoff – Lower Makefield

Peter Chirchirillo – Langhorne

William R. Godshalk – Lower Makefield

Donald G. Havlish, Jr. – Yardley

Donald W. Jones – Fairless Hills

William H. Kelly, Jr. – Lower Makefield

Joseph Lostrangio – Langhorne

Louis Nacke – New Hope

Joshua Reiss – Lower Makefield

John Michael Rodak- Southampton

Victor Saracini – Yardley

Larry Senko – Lower Makefield

Barbara A. Shaw – Bensalem

William Steiner – Lower Makefield

Sandra Wright – Langhorne