9/11 Remembrance Ceremony

by Jamison Feeley

Matthew Malone was working as a painter in a refinery off the coast of Puget Sound when he heard about the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It was there, in Washington, that he heard about the plane hitting the towers by a coworker. At first, he was not sure what to think. There wasn’t a news story at the time and he assumed it was just a rumor. It was only when the refinery’s security guards frisked him and his coworkers, armed with cameras and mirrors, that he realized the gravity of the situation.

Malone is now the director of the paramedics and EMT department at Cape Cod Community College. He also works as a firefighter and paramedic for the Centerville, Osterville, and Marstons Mills Fire Departments, and was one of the speakers during the college’s Remembrance Ceremony on September 12.

“I have always done EMS in the past,” he explains after the event. “But that was the first time I started considering becoming a firefighter. Years later…I thought about a lot of moments and that was a defining moment for me becoming a firefighter.” It is not only the 9/11 tragedy that motivates Malone to go to work during bad days.

“It's the tragedies we’ve seen, the celebrations, and 9/11,” Malone says. He stresses the need to be committed to the community, especially when people are going through terrible and stressful events. “When I’m having a tough day, I try to remember why I am there. Even if I think what we are being called in for is not much, it’s someone else’s emergency, and it’s maybe their worst day."

9/11 Remembrance day

Photo taken by Jamison Feeley

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