Dracut honors fallen first responders, local pilot in 9/11 ceremony
DRACUT — As Dracut first responders raised their arms in salute, firefighter Michael Petrilli rang the fire bell in a traditional pattern: 5–5–5–5.
The bell series signifies that the fire is out and it’s time to go home, typically paying tribute to those who will not return home. But for many locals, the memory and impact of 9/11 and its victims still shine strongly in their hearts.
On the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Dracut Police and Fire recognized the loss of close to 3,000 people, many of whom sacrificed their lives to battle flames and rescue people trapped in the towers. Outside of Station 2, home to the town’s 9/11 memorial, officers placed a flower wreath and remembered the nation’s biggest loss.
The ceremony began at 8:46 a.m., the exact minute the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. That plane, American Airlines Flight 11, was captained by John Ogonowski, a Dracut resident and farmer.
Thinking back to that day still feels “surreal,” Fire Chief Richard Patterson said. He had just completed an overnight shift, stepping through the door after 8 a.m., when his partner called him and told him to turn the TV on.
For the following week, Patterson said his TV stayed on, and the bills lying on his table went untouched. Watching the reports and footage was “almost mesmerizing,” he said.
As he watched as the South Tower fell, Patterson recalls thinking, “They just lost hundreds of firefighters.”
“They were all going up in that tower to do their job,” he said. “We all do the same job, whether it be in the city of New York or in the town of Dracut. In the brotherhood of the fire service, when you lose one, it hits home.”
That morning, Patterson said he remembers rumors were spreading about a Dracut resident on one of those flights.
“We never thought our own would have been John,” he said.
The steel beam at the monument points to ground zero, which also happens to point toward Ogonowski’s farm, Patterson said.
During the ceremony, Patterson shared a blessing and read the Firefighter’s Prayer, which calls for servicemen to have the strength to save their neighbors, young and old, despite the dangers they face.
The Dracut skies are usually filled with airplanes, Patterson said, but his second shift the following night was dead quiet — the only sound they heard the whole night were the coyotes in the woods.
In sharing his personal recollections of the attacks, Patterson asked those who lived through it to keep their thoughts, feelings and memories of that day, for themselves and posterity.
“As we grow older, the younger crowd moves in,” he said. “It’s truly going to be up to us to enhance that saying that we will never forget.”
The job comes with its inherent risks, but it’s something every firefighter commits to before their swearing in. Having served more than 23 years in the U.S. Army before retiring last year, Petrilli said the annual reminder is always a grim one.
“It’s a very somber day,” Petrilli said. “Having a military background and being part of the fire service, it brings it all together.”
Retired Army Col. Thomas Smith, 74, of Dracut, was in Washington, D.C. when the Pentagon was struck, and in the aftermath, Smith saw the explosion. It’s something that gets “seared in your memory,” he said. Driving into work by the Pentagon months later, Smith said he would just see “that big hole” in the building.
Moving to Dracut in 2004, Smith said he inadvertently bought a house that once belonged to the Ogonowski family, which brought things even closer to home.
“The memories are pretty strong,” he said.
After the bells tolled and officers saluted the flag, Patterson issued a closing message.
“May their souls and all the souls that have given their life due to World Trade Center illnesses in the years since continue to rest in peace,” Patterson said.
Originally published at https://www.lowellsun.com on September 11, 2023.
