Chaplain Mychal Judge 9/11
Sorry about the flash reflection.
Chaplain Mychal Judge
The first confirmed death of the disaster was FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who instinctively placed himself in situations where people were suffering most. Father Mike rushed to the scene in the line of duty and died from falling debris while giving last rites to a dying man. Pulled from the rubble, firemen carred him to Saint Peter's church and laid him at the alter.
"Perhaps the first wisp of real poetry to emerge from the devastation of the World Trade Center was the tale of Mychal Judge's death. Within hours of the collapse, a story began circulating that he'd been hit by falling debris when he took his helmet off to give last rites to a firefighter, a man who himself had been crushed by someone who'd jumped from Tower One.
Seven weeks later, it seems that the story is at least partly myth, though perhaps a myth necessary to the demands of the day. For one thing, Judge's body was found in the lobby of Tower One, not on the sidewalk outside. For another, one of the firefighters who carried Judge out of the building, Christian Waugh, says he saw the chaplain standing upright by the emergency command post just seconds before they and scores of others got caught in a monsoon of rubble. "I'm assuming he gave last rites to the guy in Company 216 and then ran into the lobby," says Waugh. "Because I was with him in that lobby. He was standing right there, a few feet away from me."
But it's understandable how the myth bloomed. Those who knew Judge -- and he knew hundreds, if not thousands, of people -- wanted him to die gorgeously and aptly, in a way that expressed the depth of his faith. It was how they imagined him. Such a death suited a legend."
nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/5372/
There is a picture of him at this site.
Chaplain Mychal Judge 9/11
Sorry about the flash reflection.
Chaplain Mychal Judge
The first confirmed death of the disaster was FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who instinctively placed himself in situations where people were suffering most. Father Mike rushed to the scene in the line of duty and died from falling debris while giving last rites to a dying man. Pulled from the rubble, firemen carred him to Saint Peter's church and laid him at the alter.
"Perhaps the first wisp of real poetry to emerge from the devastation of the World Trade Center was the tale of Mychal Judge's death. Within hours of the collapse, a story began circulating that he'd been hit by falling debris when he took his helmet off to give last rites to a firefighter, a man who himself had been crushed by someone who'd jumped from Tower One.
Seven weeks later, it seems that the story is at least partly myth, though perhaps a myth necessary to the demands of the day. For one thing, Judge's body was found in the lobby of Tower One, not on the sidewalk outside. For another, one of the firefighters who carried Judge out of the building, Christian Waugh, says he saw the chaplain standing upright by the emergency command post just seconds before they and scores of others got caught in a monsoon of rubble. "I'm assuming he gave last rites to the guy in Company 216 and then ran into the lobby," says Waugh. "Because I was with him in that lobby. He was standing right there, a few feet away from me."
But it's understandable how the myth bloomed. Those who knew Judge -- and he knew hundreds, if not thousands, of people -- wanted him to die gorgeously and aptly, in a way that expressed the depth of his faith. It was how they imagined him. Such a death suited a legend."
nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/5372/
There is a picture of him at this site.