September 18, 2026

Service, sacrifice of first responders on 9/11 honored on anniversary

With members of the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD), their families and civic leaders looking on, Deacon Gary Blackwell, left, and Father John McCaslin elevate the Eucharist during a Mass celebrated on Sept. 11 outside the Indianapolis Firefighters Museum in Indianapolis as part of IFD’s observance of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Photos by Sean Gallagher)

With members of the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD), their families and civic leaders looking on, Deacon Gary Blackwell, left, and Father John McCaslin elevate the Eucharist during a Mass celebrated on Sept. 11 outside the Indianapolis Firefighters Museum in Indianapolis as part of IFD’s observance of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Photos by Sean Gallagher)

Criterion staff report

The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) observed the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a series of events on Sept. 11 in downtown Indianapolis.

A bell tolled at the hall of the Professional Firefighters Local 416 at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m., the times at which the four hijacked airliners crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.

After the last bell, a Mass was celebrated outside the hall. Father John McCaslin, an IFD chaplain, was the liturgy’s celebrant. He was assisted by Deacon Gary Blackwell, a retired IFD firefighter. (Related: See a photo gallery from this event)

A march followed from the hall through downtown to the Indiana 9/11 Memorial adjacent to the IFD Station 13. The memorial includes two beams from the twin towers and a stone from the Pentagon.

A memorial service there honored the members of Indiana Task Force 1, an elite urban search and rescue unit, who were deployed to the World Trade Center in New York City soon after the attacks, arriving there on Sept. 12, 2001.

Ron Parker, a retired member of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), who worked for months on the recovery efforts at the “ground zero” site, offered a reflection. He recalled the sacrifice of the 343 FDNY firefighters who died on 9/11. †

 

Local site Links: