At Temple of Praise Church in Springfield, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Cynthia Scott-Goetz was honored as a survivor of 9/11.
SPRINGFIELD — Following 9/11 services Tuesday, residents had conflicting opinions on whether they feel safer since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that occurred 11 years ago.
Richard Ritz, an East Longmeadow resident and Vietnam veteran, said he does not feel safer.
“We have awakened a sleeping giant,” he said, “and we have to stop having our hands tied and do the right thing.”
His wife, Pat Ritz, disagreed. “I feel a little safer. I think people are more aware. I know we are,” she said.
At the Temple of Praise Church on Eastern Avenue in Springfield, the family of Lt. Col. Cynthia Scott-Goetz gathered Tuesday night to honor her as a survivor of 9/11. Scott-Goetz, a Springfield native, was working in the Pentagon when the attack occurred.
Suffering from a rare disability called Stiff Persons Syndrome, she has moved back to Springfield where her brother, the Rev. Isaac Williams, pastor of the church, is helping to care for her.
Williams said he always admired his sister, a graduate of Technical High School in Springfield and UMass-Amherst, because she did not look at race first, but considered herself an American first.
“Thank you for protecting us, while we slept in peace,” Williams said, saluting his sister.
One of the most eloquent participants in Tuesday morning’s remembrance ceremony in Springfield said nothing at all.
Draped in an American flag, a steel girder, part of the World Trade Center that fateful day 11 years ago, occupied an honored spot up front during ceremonies at Raymond Sullivan Public Safety Complex on Carew Street. Afterward, many went up to touch the rusty piece of metal, which weighs as much as 3,000 pounds and will eventually serve as the gnomon, or arm, on a commemorative sundial that will be installed somewhere within the city.
“It was very moving to touch that steel girder, knowing what happened to it, and having it part of our city,” said Paula Lazzari, retired Springfield school teacher who choked up a bit as she recounted the experience a few minutes later.
The impossibly blue skies of that September morning was evoked by a number of speakers during the ceremony – one of many taking place throughout Western Massachusetts on Tuesday.
“Though 9/11 was a surreal day, it started out just like this,” said Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. “It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was shining.”
Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant said he and fellow firefighters talked about what firefighters were thinking and feeling as they rushed up the stairs of the World Trade Center that day. He said 343 firefighters were among the 3,000 people who lost their lives.
“I don’t believe their lives will be forgotten,” Conant said.
Under skies as clear and blue as those over New York City 11 years ago, families of those killed in the terror attacks gathered at the Massachusetts State House to remember their loved ones.
Laurel Gay, whose brother Peter Gay was killed on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, remembered the older brother who was her mentor. One of seven children – and six boys – Peter Gay was a father figure when their father was at work, the one who motivated the children to do their chores, Laurel Gay recalled. As a Raytheon vice president, Peter Gay knew everyone’s name, from the janitor to the top executive, she said.
Many family members said they were hopeful that America today is safer than it was 11 years ago. Larry Hunt, whose son William Hunt died in the World Trade Center, said, “It’s been 11 years with nothing bad happening. I think our security measures helped immensely.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and his wife Gail Huff attended the State House commemorations before Brown flew back to Washington, D.C., where the Senate is in session. Both Brown and his opponent in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, pulled their campaign ads on Tuesday out of respect for Sept. 11. Warren attended a public service event.
In New York City, two members of the family of Westfield native Brian J. Murphy, who was killed in the World Trade Center, were among those who read the names of the victims of 9/11 at the national memorial gathering.
Ann Murphy, of Westfield, had been slated to read both her late brother’s name and the names of 12 other victims and was joined at the last minute by brother Harold Murphy, who was tapped to read some of the names when those who had been scheduled were unable to attend.
Brian Murphy was among three Westfield natives who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
In her public tribute to her brother at the service, Ann Murphy said, “We love and miss you all 4,017 days which have passed.” She called her nieces, Brian’s children, Jessica, now 16, and Leila, who will turn 15 later this month, “your greatest legacy.”
In Westfield, the city and the Sons of Erin renewed its commitment to never forget the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2011 and the families of Tara Shea Creamer, Brian J. Murphy and Daniel P. Trant, all Westfield natives, killed at the World Trade Center.
Those who gathered Tuesday for the 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the West Springfield Town Common were urged never to forget the sacrifices of those who helped save people that day and to remain vigilant.
More than 100 people gathered for the event in front of the town’s 9/11 memorial on the Town Common.
“We give thanks for the gifts of friendship and love she so fully shared with others,” Karen Gutowski, pastor of the West Springfield Methodist Church, said of West Springfield native Melissa M. Harrington Hughes, who died in the New York City terrorist attacks.
Her father, Robert J. Harrington of West Springfield, who attended the ceremony, told a reporter, “There’s a big hole in my heart....I can never hear her voice again. I can never hold her again.”
At Springfield College most of the students taking Robert J. Hopkins’ classes in emergency medical service management at Springfield College were just 10 or 11 years old when the terrorist attacks took place.
Hopkins said the attacks led to an ethos of public service for a generation of young people who were children then and are college students today.
Besides teaching at Springfield College, Hopkins is deputy commander of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Massachusetts 2 at University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Besides coordinating medical care in and around Ground Zero following the attacks, Hopkins also has evacuated New Orleans twice, once for Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and once for Hurricane Gustave in 2008.
The Republican's George Graham, Cynthia Simison, Sandra Constantine, Jim Kinney, Ted LaBorde and Shira Schoenberg contributed to this report.