LAST EDITED ON Sep-11-19 AT 09:03AM (MST)[p]
Bergen Catholic alumni not only perished on 9/11, but many are living witnesses to history
By Ann Piccirillo, Patch Staff
Sep 28, 2011 2:54 am
This is a story that has been percolating for well over a month, and the more it's shared, the more people add to it.
In the course of meeting with people and conducting interviews for Patch's 10th Anniversary 9/11 profiles, there emerged a Bergen Catholic connection. Almost every conversation included the phrase, "I/he went to Bergen Catholic and was at the World Trade Center."
Those Bergen Catholic graduates whose stories I had the privilege to tell were:
* General Manager of the George Washington Bridge on 9/11.
*Supervisor of Technology Projects in the Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals Department for the Port Authority who was in Tower 1.
*and his best friend Chris Vialonga, who worked side-by-side on the 92nd floor of the North Tower.
There is a memorial erected on the campus of Bergen Catholic honoring the eight alumni who perished in the World Trade Center, but how many are aware of the alumni who witnessed the terror attacks in New York City and the Pentagon? Alumni who held positions of authority within the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and/or were employed by the military, the City of New York or the federal government.
In many cases, these alumni stories did not get written because they were unable to obtain official clearance or, because 10 years later, it was still too painful to recount the events of that day. These alumni include a Secret Service officer, an F.B.I. Special Agent, a retired New York City firefighter whose company was called to the World Trade Center, a computer security analyst and a Naval officer who had been stationed at the Pentagon.
Each alumni I spoke with mentioned Bergen Catholic's 9/11 memorial, and with the exception of one person, not one of them had yet seen it. So shortly before the anniversary of 9/11, I decided to make the pilgrimage to Bergen Catholic for them and view the memorial honoring the eight alumni who worked at the World Trade Center and never made it out.
It just so happened that on the day I visited the memorial it was undergoing a major renovation in preparation for a 10th anniversary memorial service for the family and friends of those eight men.
I had the pleasure of meeting Patrick Maron, who was leading the efforts of the renovation. It was his older brother Michael T. Maron, a sophomore on 9/11 who, when he realized how many BC alumni perished at the World Trade Center, decided to undertake the project of establishing a memorial on the campus grounds as a way of honoring these men and fulfilling an Eagle Scout service project.
After getting the appropriate approvals, he placed a fundraising letter in the alumni magazine and raised $18,000, well in excess of his $5000 goal. The original monument is octagon-shaped to represent the eight alumni who perished.
Ten years later, the youngest of four Maron boys, Patrick, decided to renovate the original site for his Eagle Scout service project by adding permanent lighting, a waterfall and a new granite monument that contains a piece of the World Trade Center. (The granite monument has been placed on top of the original monument.) Given the scope of his proposed enhancements, there was a concern that Patrick was biting off more than he could chew.
However, like his brothers, Patrick has worked for a local landscaping company and had assisted in building a few water features. He also led the group of volunteers aged 13-15 who came everyday to get the project done in time for the ceremony that was held just this past Sunday.
By enhancing the memorial, Patrick is connecting his vision to his brother's, ensuring that the Bergen Catholic connection to 9/11 lives on, as does the memory of these eight alumni.
TONY MANDILE
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