ATHOL — Russell Kleber looked to the clear-blue sky Monday morning with a sense of amazement and recollection.
“I just can’t get over the weather,” the Athol police chief said. “This is exactly the weather … ”
On Sept. 11, 2001, Kleber and his wife were living in southeastern Massachusetts and had dropped off their oldest son for his first day of preschool when he turned on the car radio. That’s when the then-FBI agent heard a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in Manhattan and drove home to turn on the television. It was a day that changed the United States forever and claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. But the sky in the background broadcast on the news was cloudless, oblivious to the calamity and inhumanity taking place beneath it.
Sixteen years later, Kleber was standing under an almost identical sky, emceeing a remembrance ceremony that brought a few dozen people, including police officers and firefighters, to Athol Veterans Park. Kleber made some opening comments that were followed by an opening prayer, then what’s known as the “Police Officer’s Prayer” and what’s known as the “Firefighter’s Prayer.”
“On Sept. 11, 2001, this great country endured a cowardly terrorist attack against our freedom and the way of life we cherish,” Kleber said. “Today, we are here in remembrance of those 2,977 victims who lost their lives to these vicious attacks on that fateful day.”
Kleber gave a description of the terrorist attacks before a last alarm, last call and a lowering of an American flag to half-staff. There was a moment of silence before the flag was raised to full-mast again and a closing prayer was delivered. Athol School Committee member Mitchell Grosky sang part of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee.”
“I can’t believe it’s been 16 years. Feels like yesterday,” Kleber told the crowd. “We survived, though. As Americans, we are survivors.”
Kleber later said he was pleased with the number of people who showed up.
“I was impressed. It’s tough — it’s a workday,” he said after the ceremony. “But it was nice. It was a nice turnout.”
Nineteen terrorists hijacked four airplanes that crashed in New York City, at the Pentagon in Virginia, and in Stonycreek Township, Pa., in the worst attack ever on American soil. It was also the single deadliest incident for firefighters and police officers in the history of the United States, killing 343 and 72, respectively.
Athol Fire Chief John Duguay told The Recorder he was working as a fire inspector in Athol that morning and said he thought there had been an accident when he first heard the news.
“We were watching and one of the guys that was working says, ‘There’s a helicopter,’” Duguay recalled. “They do helicopter rescues. But it really wasn’t a helicopter. It was the second plane. That’s when we knew that something was up.
“It was devastating — without a doubt,” he continued. “We were all affected by it, every one of us.”
Duguay said he and four others attended New York firefighter Joseph Agnello’s funeral about a month later. He said funerals were held for each of the 343 firefighters who died responding to the attacks and the group from Athol picked one to attend.
“It was an experience that I’ll never forget,” Duguay said, adding that they also visited Ground Zero. He said he would like to visit National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Kleber said he was working for the FBI in Providence, R.I., in September 2001. On the day of the attacks, he was dispatched to Logan International Airport in Boston (from which two of the planes departed). There, he was part of the evidence response team that processed the commuter plane terrorist Mohamed Atta had taken from Port land, Maine, to get to Boston.
Kleber said he later interviewed the family of Madeline Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked by five terrorists. Sweeney had phoned in details of the terrorists and the hijacking.
“Because of Amy Sweeney, we knew exactly what happened — almost immediately,” Kleber said at the ceremony. “Amy Sweeney has a special place in my heart, her whole family as well.”
You can reach Domenic Poli at:
dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261,
ext. 258. On Twitter: @DomenicPoli