South Philly Review

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Many Americans will mark Sunday’s 10th anniversary of the 9/11 carnage with family gatherings, religious services and solemn observances. Donna Bachety last month chose art to evoke patriotism and to show respect for the 2,977 souls who died on account of four plane hijackings across three states, with the two most documented takeovers leading to the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City’s Lower Manhattan area. 


A native of nearby Long Island, N.Y., she called on color to counter catastrophe by having stained glass bearing the fateful digits installed in her home.


“I had to have an external reminder yet something simple,” Bachety said from her residence on 11th and Dickinson streets. 


She bought the spot in 2002 and adorned the living room with two encased Flags of Honor displaying the victims’ names. A need for renovations led her to commission a complement for the symbols. She enlisted Keith Loudenslager of Northeast Philadelphia’s Eagle Eye Painting and Home Remodeling to remove an air conditioner.


The extraction revealed collected water from the unit’s poor drainage had damaged the wall and its foundation. Instead of having the resultant hole covered, Bachety paradoxically let her hurt heal her. With Loudenslager handling the troubled area, Bachety approached Frank Sorrentino at South Philadelphia Stained Glass, 1605 E. Passyunk Ave., to fashion the 26-inch-by-16-inch window.


A former Marine, the businessman eagerly accepted the project.


“I hope people will realize everybody should be patriotic,” he said of his creation, which features the numbers in red inside a blue and red oval and red and white stripes akin to the American flag’s.


The glass appears nondescript during daylight, but dusk allows Bachety to illuminate it through the use of a light she inserts into a cubbyhole. Its presence has caused confusion among some short on knowledge of its meaning, but she has earned praise for honoring the memories of thousands and the pain of millions. 


“Many people have said it’s great and really nice,” Bachety said, directing a quick look at a 1980s poster of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.


Like Sorrentino, she has no difficulty with summoning her pride, admitting to a five-decade affinity for wearing red, white and blue shirts. Lucky, her eight-month-old female golden retriever, joined in lauding the country by donning a flag as a bandana.


“I grew up learning to respect the land and those who defend it,” Bachety said.


Having three family members among the protectors made her appreciation a given. Her father, Joseph Bachety Sr., served in the Korean War and worked for the New York City Police Department. Brother Joseph Jr. recently retired from the New York City Fire Department, and brother Michael is a New York City police detective. Her family’s existence, along with the nation’s, changed almost 10 years ago, when 19 members of the al-Qaida terrorist faction caused the New York crashes, a collision at The Pentagon in Arlington County, Va., and a wreck in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville.


The Bachety brothers were among the first responders to the New York City drama, with Michael learning of the attack through his sister.


“He called me to see if someone was making a movie because he heard a plane had hit the North Tower,” Bachety said of informing him that American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 87 passengers, crashed into the site at 8:46 a.m.


United Airlines Flight 175 and its 60 travelers struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., with the second structure collapsing 53 minutes later and its neighbor falling at 10:28 a.m.


“I felt so brokenhearted,” Bachety said of the day and the subsequent weeks.


Her brothers kept her from venturing to New York until Thanksgiving, with her excursion over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge eliciting eerie feelings.


“It was just odd not to see the towers,” she said, adding that Sunday’s opening of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum has lessened her unease.