Five years ago today our lives changed and converged. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and the aborted attack that brought down Flight 93 in the fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, we called together a dedicated group of people to serve as chaplains at the newly named Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. You were one of those chaplains.

The days, weeks and months that followed will always be remembered as filled with tears and hope, fatigue and courage, helplessness and prayer. Centered at St. Paul’s Chapel, you ministered to countless construction workers, relief volunteers and emergency response personnel who had come together to form a miraculous team dedicated first to the rescue of the injured, then to the recovery of the dead.

Your service will forever be remembered by those whose lives you touched. Today I take this opportunity to remember you and to thank you – for your service in God’s name, for your immediate and continued offering of yourself in a time of need, and for your furtherance of the ministry of chaplaincy.

May God bless you in the days of service yet to be.

Faithfully,

+George Packard

"Thank you for this message. I have yet to return to St. Paul’s or “Ground Zero” since serving there. I remember meeting you at the door of St. Paul’s one evening. You were most encouraging and pastoral to everyone there that evening. The experience of those months in witness to those who suffered so much was truly life changing for me...I remember sitting one evening with a fireman who was crying uncontrollably. He was exhausted, emotionally drained, and covered in the dust and grime of the pile on which he so faithfully stood. I talked about the Lord’s healing power then and how the Lord is never surprised by trouble or world catastrophe. While we labor here, our focus must be on Jesus who overcame the world. That incident and many others at WTC have sustained me now and continue to assure me of the many blessings I personally received while serving there..."

"As you know, serving in those days was a privilege. One of my most poignant memories is when a police officer (probably Irish Catholic) took his hat off, bowed slightly to me and the other woman priest I was serving with, and said, "Thank you so much for being here.....it is a comfort to be reminded that even in hell, God is present" and then walked on. In that moment, I realized what it meant to be an icon. I had done nothing and it had nothing to do with me.....but God used me as a walking icon that said over and over, "God is here, even in this place."

"This past September 11, I was at the morgue where the 46 percent of unidentified remains are kept until identification or the completion of the Memorial at ground zero. I have continued my friendship with Dr. Charles Hirsh, the remarkable M.E. in New York...."

"Thank you very much for your kind and encouraging email to all the Chaplains. I was down volunteering on the WTC site on Monday and it was an honour to be there and was a very moving day..."