Gloucester County remembers three 9/11 dead
"Angels gather here," read the sign on an angel doll sitting near a sculpture containing World Trade Center steel in a Mantua park yesterday.
"Angels gather here," read the sign on an angel doll sitting near a sculpture containing World Trade Center steel in a Mantua park yesterday.
A crowd of about 150 people gathered to remember victims of the 9/11 attacks, including three Gloucester County men: John Rodak of Mantua, Nick Brandemarti of West Deptford, and Perry Thompson of Monroe.
Around 8:30 a.m., bagpipes sorrowfully played under evergreens as uniformed men and women, citizens, and friends and relatives of the fallen looked on.
Mantua Mayor Timothy W. Chell, presiding over the half-hour ceremony, choked up while speaking of a Mantua woman who seven years ago lost her husband but not her generosity.
"Joyce Rodak donated a remote-control scoreboard at the school softball field and my daughter plays softball, so we feel their pain," he said.
After the event, Chell explained he had to briefly stop speaking as he glanced toward the two Rodak daughters.
"I can't look at those kids crying. They lost their dad," he said.
Following a prayer, Joyce Rodak and her daughters, Chelsea and Devon, were the first group to ring the black bell at the memorial, at around the time when the first plane flew into the World Trade Center's North Tower on Sept 11, 2001.
"People tend to forget the bravery that took place that day in those buildings," said State Sen. Stephen M. Sweeney (D., Gloucester) during his remarks. "It showed what this country is about."
The family of Nicholas Brandemarti came forward next to ring the bell, marking the second plane hitting in Manhattan.
"What About Us," a song written to remember 9/11, was sung by Tim Lloyd and Shawn Christie, as they gently played guitars.
The third bell was rung - to honor Perry Thompson and mark the third plane hitting the Pentagon - by a police sergeant, a fire official, an emergency medical technician, and a county police academy cadet.
State Sen. Fred Madden (D., Gloucester) spoke next, recalling how after 9/11, "I felt like I went to funerals for weeks and months. We were all trying to make some sense of a world that had just become unraveled."
Major historical events, such as the Great Depression, World War II, the civil-rights movement, and the Vietnam War, help shape us, he said. "Our children, their generation came of age seven years ago, when 19 terrorists attacked this country."
A fourth bell was rung by a Marine, to mark the fourth plane, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., away from populated targets, thanks to brave passengers.
Wreaths were placed on the three plaques bearing the names of the three county residents who died that day.
After the ceremony, Nick Brandemarti Sr. spoke about keeping the memory of his son alive.
Sept. 26 - the day he would have turned 29 - is the date of the Nicky Brandemarti Memorial Golf Tournament, which raises about $100,000 each year for various charities.
(For more information, go to
» READ MORE: www.nickyb44.com
.)
Joyce Rodak hugged friends and well-wishers, and expressed gratitude for all the support, which actually seems to grow each year, she said.
Around her neck on a chain were two mementos.
One was the diamond John Rodak gave her on her 25th birthday, the spring before they got married.
The other was his wedding ring, which was recovered on 9/11 at the South Tower site.
"John was a great man and a great father, and he will be so missed. And his legacy lives on in these two guys," she said, referring to her daughters.
