(Photo of Battalion Chief Lawrence Stack via the New York Times)
Battalion Chief Lawrence Stack, 58, of the New York Fire Department looked through his binoculars on the morning of September 11, 2001 as the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center:
“He lowered his binoculars and said, ‘Guys, I think they’re going to need us,’ ” his son said, recalling what he has been told of that day.
Along with too many of his comrades, Chief Stack fell in the line of duty on that day. His body was never recovered.
That's a problem because to hold a Catholic funeral Mass, you must have present the remains of the deceased. Fortunately, Stack donated bone marrow in 2000. Last year, his family asked the New York Blood Center to locate and return the sample. The Star-Tribune reported in June that Stack's bone marrow donation has been returned to his family. Now they can proceed with a funeral Mass:
His funeral will be held Friday at Sts. Philip and James Church in St. James on Long Island, with the expansive pageantry and huge turnout of firefighters and officers that accompany all departmental ceremonies.
-via TYWKIWDBI