Editing Mychal Judge (section)

==September 11 attacks==
[[File:Fr. Mychal Judge NYFD memorial - inscription.JPG|thumbnail|Judge's memorial inscription:{{pb}}"FR. MYCHAL JUDGE{{pb}}MAY 11, 1933 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001{{pb}}Lord, Take me where you want me to go, Let me meet who you want me to meet, Tell me what you want me to say and Keep me out of your way.]]
On September 11, 2001, upon learning that the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] had been hit by the first of two jetliners, Judge rushed to the site. He was met by [[Rudolph Giuliani]], the [[Mayor of New York City]], who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge prayed over bodies lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center [[1 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|North Tower]], where an emergency [[Command post#Command and Control Centers|command post]] had been organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured, and the dead.

[[File:Y20-Wtc-september-5.jpg|thumbnail|Judge died when debris from the [[2 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|South Tower]] was ejected into the lobby of the North Tower during the [[collapse of the World Trade Center]]. This image of the South Tower was photographed nine days before Judge's death.]]
When the neighboring [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|South Tower]] collapsed at 9:59{{nbsp}}a.m., debris went flying through the North Tower lobby, killing many inside. Judge died at this moment, too, struck and killed by the debris, according to a later interview with 1st Battalion Chief [[Joseph W. Pfeifer|Joseph Pfeifer]], it was initially believed that he had suffered a heart attack.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chief Joseph Pfeifer of Battalion 1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/05/nyregion/nyregionspecial/chief-joseph-pfeifer-of-battalion-1.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=2002-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325184130/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/05/nyregion/nyregionspecial/chief-joseph-pfeifer-of-battalion-1.html |archive-date=2022-03-25 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-01-29 }}</ref> In the moment before his death, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!", according to Judge's biographer and ''[[New York Daily News]]'' columnist Michael Daly.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/09/11/2002-09-11_they_made_america__the_beaut.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124040845/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/09/11/2002-09-11_they_made_america__the_beaut.html|date=2010-11-24}}. ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' (New York). February 11, 2002. "Judge stood alone at a [[plate glass]] window overlooking the carnage and devastation. A fire department photographer heard him praying aloud, ''Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!''</ref><ref>{{harvp|Daly|2008|p=336}}</ref>

Shortly after his death, Judge's body was found and carried out of the North Tower by five people (Firefighters Christian Waugh and Zachary Vause, [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]] Lt. William Cosgrove, civilian John Maguire and [[FDNY]] [[Emergency medical technician|EMT]] Kevin Allen) shortly before it collapsed at 10:28{{nbsp}}a.m. This act was photographed by [[Reuters]] photographer Shannon Stapleton, and became one of the most famous photographs taken during the attacks. This event was captured in the documentary film ''[[9/11 (2002 film)|9/11]]'', shot by [[Jules and Gedeon Naudet]]. The ''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]'' reported that the photograph is "considered an American ''[[Pietà]]''."<ref>Prigge, Matt (May 3, 2006). [https://archive.today/20120906165836/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=12107 "Upward Christian Soldier"]. ''[[Philadelphia Weekly]]''.</ref> Judge's body was placed before the altar of St. Peter's Catholic Church before being taken by ambulance and fire department colleagues to Engine 1/Ladder 24, the fire station opposite the Franciscan Friary on W 31st Street in Manhattan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Dean E.|author-link=|date=August 27, 2002|title=September 11: An Oral History|location=|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]|page=174-177|isbn=978-0385507684}}</ref> He was later taken from the fire station to the medical examiner.<ref>{{harvp|Daly|2008|p=343}}</ref>

Judge was designated as "Victim 0001" and thereby recognized as the first named victim of the attacks. Although thousands of others had been killed before him, with [[Daniel Lewin]] largely believed to have been the first chronological fatality of the attacks, Judge was the first certified fatality because his body was the first to be recovered and taken to the medical examiner.<ref name="Daly_347">{{harvp|Daly|2008|p=347}}</ref>

Judge's body was formally identified by [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]] Detective [[Steven McDonald]], a long-time friend. The New York Medical Examiner found that Judge died of "[[Blunt trauma|blunt force trauma]] to the head".<ref name="Daly_347"/>