On Sept. 11 Anniversary, Moon Commemorates Police

In 1948, Moon Township's first police chief operated his young department out of the front his home on Delaware Drive. 

Today, Chief Leo McCarthy said his 30-officer agency is at "the pinnacle of its performance." 

"But it still comes down to public service," said McCarthy, standing before a group of township officials and first-responders on hand to honor the department on the eleventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Police Sgt. Doug Busch said members of the department rallied to sponsor a police memorial to sit in the Moon rain garden on Beaver Grade Road, alongside Sept. 11, veterans' and firefighter memorials commemorated last year in Moon. 

The Sept. 11 attacks marked the deadliest day in U.S. history for police, claiming the lives of more than 72 law enforcement officers to date. 

The monument, a headstone etched with the township seal and the phrase "In valor, there is hope," was paid for through dues paid to the Police Officers' Association. 

"It's meant to both comfort and motivate us," said Busch just before the memorial's unveiling. 

Township manager Jeanne Creese, a former first-responder who served in Shanksville on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2011, said the event was a way to express gratitude to police in the township. 

"From my corner office at the township building I can see the police department and one of the busiest intersections in the township," Creese said. "Every time I hear that siren I say a small prayer." 

Click the media above for a video clip and photos from the event.