New Canaan remembers victims of 9/11
NEW CANAAN — Church bells rang, the honor guard stood in formation and a wreath was placed on the World Trade Center Memorial, as hundreds gathered at Town Hall to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on or after Sept 11, 2001.
Residents stood in solemn remembrance beginning at 9:55 a.m., the exact time that the first World Trade Center tower fell 20 years ago.
As church bells rang out, Fire Chief John Hennessey recalled a time when some families waited for news from their loved ones or began searching for them.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan paid tribute to “honor and remember” the 2,977 “precious lives” lost that day and honored the “412 first responders who ran to the fire and lost their lives trying to save others.”
He especially remembered the three New Canaan men — Joe Coppo, Eamon McEneaney and Brad Fetchet — who died when the World Trade Center fell.
“We pledge to Joe, Eamon and Brad we will never forget them,” Moynihan said.
Prior to firefighters stopping traffic on Main Street, Hennessey asked everyone to remember the 1,100 victims who have not been identified by DNA testing, the 412 first responders who died that day, the 2,100 rescue workers who have died since from exposure to the site and the almost 10,000 others diagnosed with cancers from working at the site.
“We also need to remember the 2,400 American servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, in the global war on terror since that day, most recently in Afghanistan,” Hennessey said.
He said the 9/11 attacks did bring the country together.
“It was one of the worst days, but it brought out the best of us,” Hennessey said.
“Patriots from all backgrounds from all walks of life responded with courage and
compassion and unified the country in a way I could never forget and showed humanity for which we all stood for,” Hennessey said. “The nation was extraordinarily unified.”
Americans joined together to honor the memory of “innocent people who went to work on that beautiful September, a day much like today, and those who went to the aid in New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.,” the chief said.
Coppo, 46, worked as a municipal bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald near the top of World Trade Center Tower Two. He was
also a youth baseball coach. Coppo Field was named in his honor. He left a wife, Kathleen, and four children, Moynihan said.
Famed sports columnist Mike Lupica wrote a column on Coppo just weeks after his death, saying that “every town, if it is lucky, has somebody like Joe.”
McEneaney, also 46, was the husband of Bonnie McEneaneyMcNamara, father of four children and a former All-American lacrosse player for Cornell University. He was a senior vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald, Moynihan said.
McEneaney was also a writer
and a poet whose poems were published posthumously by the Cornell University Library with the title “A Bend in the Road.”
Brad Fetchet, 24, was the son of Mary and Frank Fetchet, cofounders of Voices of September 11th Foundation, now known as Voices Center of Resilience in New Canaan. He was the brother of Chris and Wes and a former star ice hockey and lacrosse player at New Canaan High School and Bucknell University.
Fetchet had just started working for Keefe, Bruyette and Woods as an equity trader on the 89th floor of World Trade Center
Tower Two, the first selectman said.
“For those who knew Brad, as I did,” Moynihan said, “Brad’s kind smile and gentle nature brightened our days and warmed our hearts.”
Because of the pandemic this was the first time in two years the town honored the traditions with hundreds gathered on the front lawn of Town Hall.
Last year, a crowd of mainly first responders gathered outside Town Hall at 9:59 a.m., the exact moment the South Tower of the World Trade Center — the second to fall — came tumbling down.