Providence, R.I., May 6, 2011 / 14:07 pm
Chaplain Col. Robert L. Marciano was relaxing Sunday night at the rectory of Our Lady of Good Hope Parish in Mapleville, R.I. when he received a text message from a friend in the military that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in a daring operation in Pakistan led by U.S. Navy SEALs.
Immediately, thoughts flooded back to the pastor of those difficult days following the 9/11 attacks when he and other military chaplains would suit up and wade through the destruction at the Pentagon to offer prayers for the dead as the remains of the 184 victims there were recovered.
“It was a dark time. When we first arrived and saw the damage, it was still smoldering,” recalls Father Marciano, who initially served three weeks as a chaplain at the Pentagon following the terrorist attacks.
He would return to the Pentagon from 2006-2010 to serve as chief of chaplains for the U.S. Air National Guard. He now serves as state command chaplain for the Rhode Island National Guard.