West Milford has a special park honoring the victims of 9/11. It is on the front lawn of the municipal building and was suggested and constructed by a businessman who wants to remain anonymous. The photo shows the late Mayor Joseph DiDonato conducting a memorial service soon after the memorial was established.
In the terrorist attack 20 years ago five people with ties to West Milford were killed.
The Rev. Mychal Judge
The Rev. Mychal Judge was a former pastor at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in the Echo Lake section of the Township of West Milford.
He was trying to help those injured after the planes struck the Twin Towers in New York City, and was killed by falling debris while trying to help others.
At the time the Franciscan priest had been stationed at St. Francis Friary on 31st Street in New York across from the fire house while he served as chaplain of the New York Fire Dept.
At his funeral the church was filled with clergy, firefighters and people from many walks of life who were touched by the popular priest.
Among the hundreds of people present at his funeral were former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton who spoke of how proud Father Mychal was to be chaplain for the fire department. Hillary said Father Mychal’s personality lit up the White House like he did everything else and the love he gave will never be forgotten. There is a memorial for the priest in St. Joseph Cemetery.
Jeremy Glick
Jeremy Glick of Greenwood Lake was going west on a business trip to San Francisco on 9/11/2001. Soon after the two planes crashed into the twin towers in New York another airliner crashed into the side of the nation’s military headquarters – the Pentagon in Washington, D,C.
Then there was word of still another downed airliner – Flight 93.
This one had changed course and was heading for Washington, D.C. Passengers had contacted family members by cell phone and told them the passengers had planned some sort of attempt to overthrow the highjackers. Jeremy was one of the heroes.
The plane went straight down in a Pennsylvania field, blasting a hole in the earth 50 feet deep. The highjackers did not get to do the intended damage.
Jeremy Glick is honored by a trail bearing his name in Hewitt.
T. J. Hargrave
T. J. Hargrave was 38. He grew up in the Echo Lake section of the township, one of seven children in the family.
As a child he appeared in TV commercials, movies and the soap opera “The Guiding Light.” He liked to read, write and was a champion high school wrestler and soccer coach.
He was vice president of one of the biggest bond trading houses on Wall Street – Cantor Fitzgerald. Three daughters born to him and his wife Patricia, Corrine, Casey and Amy, were age 8, 6 and 4, when he died. They were living in Readington. He was in his office when the Twin Towers were struck.
Jean Caviasco
Jean Caviasco, 42, of Newfoundland, grew up in Woodridge, the eldest of five children. She was a certified accountant and a vice president at Marsh and McLennan with an office on the 100th floor of the World Trade Center. At St. Joseph parish in West Milford she was finance chair for the church and school. A single parent she had two children Drew, then 17, and Jamie, 16.
Michael Zinzi
Michael Zinzi, 37, of Newfoundland was a certified public accountant at Marsh & McLennan. He and his wife Dyan became parents of a son just nine weeks before the fateful day.
As he did every morning he held and admired his son and then headed for work.
Dyan heard about the first plane flying into Tower One and tried to phone her husband’s office but was unable to reach him.
Mike and Dyan were bikers and participated in the Elvis Run charity motorcycle event, riding from Parsippany to Newark, just two days before the World Trade Center tragedy.
He taught Dyan to ride and bought her a Harley Davidson motorcycle a couple of years earlier. They first met at a fitness center.
West Milford Township Fire Department and First Aid Squad volunteers spent many days helping at the World Trade Center destruction site.
West Milford. 9/11 memorial ceremony is Sept. 11 at 8:45 a.m.
People will gather at the 9/11/01 Memorial Park in front of West Milford Municipal Building tomorrow morning (Saturday, Sept. 11) at 8:45 a.m.to remember the day 20 years ago that changed the nation forever.
The program time start is just three minutes before the first of two highjacked airliners, loaded with innocent passengers, flew into the North Twin Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:48 a.m. on Sept.11, 2001.
The plane pierced the side of the 110 story building. People were trying to escape from the burning inferno, others were running through the streets seeking safety and gallant heroes were speeding into action trying to save others. About 15 minutes later a second plane crashed into the South Tower.
Then there was the plane crashing into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and another that was stopped from heading to Washington to do more damage. Brave passengers who conspired to take this plane from the highjackers died with other passengers and the terrorists when it crashed in a desolate field in Pennsylvania.
Tomorrow too, rescue workers who went into the burning towers with safety of others in their thoughts as they plowed through falling debris and bodies in their paths and lost their own lives will also be honored.
The West Milford Fire Department and Upper Greenwood Lake and West Milford First Aid Squad members who responded to the attack and worked tirelessly in the rescue efforts are remembered for their heroic and dedicated efforts.
- Ann Genader