Cross Brings Spiritual Lift To Workers
By Mae M. Cheng
STAFF WRITER
October 5, 2001Bill Graham, a firefighter with Ladder 169 in Brooklyn, is not sure what to make of the two cast iron beams that form the shape of a cross found at Ground Zero.
"I have a long way to go to heal," said Graham, who yesterday witnessed the blessing of the iron beams, a ceremony that officially made them a crucifix. "We lost many of our brothers."
While Graham could not find his own personal solace in the cross, he hoped others would. "It reinforces their faith in God that God's here for them," Graham said.
The cross, about 15 feet tall, was found in the shell of 6 World Trade Center. According to the Rev. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who blessed the cross, the girders were part of debris from one of the collapsed towers that crashed through the roof of 6 World Trade Center and stood upright in a sea of rubble. Insulation from the building hangs on one arm of the cross.
"We've been suffering for three weeks now," Jordan said. "We want healing...not only for the city of New York but for America."
The cross was removed Wednesday night from 6 World Trade Center by ironworkers. It was hoisted atop a concrete slab, a remnant from a collapsed walk bridge between the World Trade Center complex and the World Financial Center. Overnight, rescuers wrote messages on the cross for those who died or have been working at Ground Zero.
"God bless our fallen brothers," someone wrote.
During yesterday's ceremony, work at Ground Zero came to a halt as rescuers joined hands, prayed and sang "God Bless America" before going into a chant of "U.S.A., U.S.A."
The cross will remain on the concrete slab on West Street for the next few months until a permanent home for it as an outdoor memorial is found, Jordan said.
"It's very difficult to work down here," said Sgt. Brian Wall, a police officer with Emergency Service Unit 3. "I hope it's [the cross] going to lift their spirits," he said of the rescuers.