Chaplain weighs impact of terror

Sept. 11 will be a busy day for Rev. Anthony Diacetis, pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish in Ballston Lake:

* He'll pause during morning Mass to take part in a memorial service in Saratoga County; at 8:46 a.m., all the fire sirens in the county will blare for 30 seconds, and then all the church bells will be rung for another 30 seconds.

* Later, he'll offer the benediction on behalf of the military at a 9/11 memorial service at the O'Brien Federal Building in Albany. * That evening, Father Diacetis will participate in an ecumenical prayer service at his parish. "In addition to remembering those who perished, we're going to celebrate the heroes," he said. "We're bringing in firemen, policemen and EMTs from our area to thank them for their life-saving efforts each and every day. 9/11 brought to our attention the tremendous work these people do; we want to acknowledge and celebrate that."

NYC duty

Last September was busy for the priest, too: The National Guard unit in which he is a chaplain was called to take part in recovery efforts in New York City after the terrorist attacks there. He offered Mass for the soldiers, and consoled Guardsmen, rescue workers and families of victims.

A year later, he calls himself "fortunate" to have been sent to New York with a fellow chaplain, Methodist minister Rev. Lee Hardgrove of Catskill. "We were a support to each other -- and still are," he said.

Because of that support, he said, "I don't think the anniversary will be that hard for me, because I've been able to process it."

Changes

Some things have changed, however. Father Diacetis said that he still has "a hard time wrapping my head around the enormity of the deaths. I still have to separate out those who were in the buildings, those firemen and policemen rushing in, the people in the airplanes and what they must have been going through." When he drills with his National Guard unit each month, the subject of 9/11 inevitably arises.

"We all share that common experience," he said. "I don't think a drill goes by that we don't somehow remember it. Everyone I've talked to is grateful to have been a part of that rescue or recovery."

In recalling Sept. 11, the priest is also reminded of other disasters he's witnessed as a Guardsman, particularly the ice storms that devastated the Albany Diocese's North Country area and the tornado that hit Mechanicville, both in 1998.

Discussion topic

Father Diacetis just returned from two weeks of annual training at Fort Dix in New Jersey, the last phase of "command and general staff college." Upon completion, he'll be eligible for promotion to lieutenant colonel.

He said that 9/11 was a topic for discussion in his courses, particularly since his instructor, an engineer, had worked for a company whose offices were in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Father Diacetis said the teacher refused to talk during class about his escape from the tower, saying only that his company eventually went out of business and he had to find a new job.

More to do?

Father Diacetis' experience closer to home has changed him in small ways that he still notices.

"I take things more slowly," he said simply. "I'm patient in that long line at Cumberland Farms." He looks at those in line with him and thinks, "These are good people."

(09-05-02) [[In-content Ad]]