Sunday, September 11, 2011

Let Us Never Forget

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the United States. That bright, crisp September morning thousands of people went to their jobs never to return home to their loved ones again. They were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and friends. You may not have known any of them personally but they represent all Americans. September 11th has been declared a National Day of Service. While I believe we should endeavour to serve our country in whatever way we can, we owe it to the victims of September 11th, out of respect, to dedicate this day to reflection and mourning their loss. We can volunteer to paint the local boys and girls club on another day.

I visited the Connecticut 9-11 Memorial yesterday and though I know that the events of 9-11 are probably not as vivid for those who are removed from them by physical distance I cannot even begin to describe how palpable the loss is, even 10 years later to those close to the locations of the three attacks.

Connecticut's 9-11 Living Memorial.
Sherwood Island State Park was chosen for the memorial because on a clear day, the New York City skyline is visible from the point.
On 9/11, people who gathered there saw smoke rise over the World Trade Center. Surrounded by trees, shrubs, and grass the granite monument is inscribed:
     "The citizens of Connecticut dedicate this living memorial to the thousands of innocent lives lost on September 11, 2001, and to the families that loved them."


 These 152 names are inscribed on the small stones that flank either side of the grassy square:

Richard M. Keane  ·  Peter R. Kellerman  ·  Stacey Leigh Sanders  ·  Joshua Piver  ·  Lawrence Getzfred  ·  Jonathan J. Uman  ·  Scott Thomas Coleman  ·  Keith Eugene Coleman  ·  Richard S. Gabrielle  ·  Thomas M. Brennan  ·  Ronald Gilligan  ·  Jeffrey D. Bittner  ·  John Fiorito  ·  William J. Meehan, Jr.  ·  Eskedar Melaku  ·  Glenn Davis Kirwin  ·  Joel Miller  ·  Adam J. Lewis  ·  Michael M. Miller  ·  Steven Lawrence Glick  ·  Eamon McEneaney  ·  Craig William Staub  ·  James Thomas Waters, Jr.  ·  Frederick Varacchi  ·  James Andrew O'Grady  ·  Edward "Teddy" F. Maloney  ·  Charles A. Zion  ·  Michael J. Lyons  ·  Amy King  ·  Michael C. Farrou  ·  Heather L. Smith  ·  Raymond Joseph Metz, III  ·  Jason E. Sabbag  ·  Candace Lee Williams  ·  Maurice Patrick Kelly  ·  Peter Alan Gay  ·  Stephen Lamantia  ·  Thomas E. Galvin • Francis Henry (Frank) Brennan  ·  Thomas Anthony Palazzo  ·  James A. Greenleaf, Jr.  ·  Mike A. Pelletier  ·  Michael C. Rothberg  ·  David H. Winton  ·  Allen V. Upton  ·  Peter C. Fry  ·  Kevin P. Connors  ·  Christopher William White Murphy  ·  Madeline Sweeney  ·  Cheryl Ann Monyak  ·  Francis McGuinn  ·  Ada Maason  ·  Robert A. Lawrence, Jr.  ·  Martin Phillips Wohlforth  ·  Joseph A. Lenihan  ·  Jesus Sanchez  ·  Amy E. Toyen  ·  Jeffrey David Wiener  ·  Cesar A. Murillo  ·  Gary E. Lasko  ·  Margaret Quinn Orloske  ·  Derek J. Statkevicus  ·  Randy Scott  ·  Lindsay S. Morehouse  ·  Dianne Bullis Snyder  ·  Sean P. Rooney  ·  George E. Spencer, III  ·  Christopher Orgielewicz  ·  Garry W. Lozier  ·  Gregory T. Spagnoletti  ·  Jude Moussa  ·  James Matthew Patrick  ·  Sean Schielke  ·  Tyler Ugolyn  ·  Ulf Ramm Ericson  ·  Juan Ceballos • Edwin J. Graf, III  ·  Timothy John Hargrave  ·  Christopher W. Wodenshek  ·  Dolores Costa  ·  Geoffrey W. Cloud  ·  Edward T. Fergus, Jr.  ·  Michael Egan  ·  Bradley Fetchet  ·  Andrew Stergiopoulos  ·  James D. Halvorson  ·  John Bruce Eagleson  ·  Edward Calderon  ·  Margaret Connor  ·  Peter Gelinas  ·  Paul M. Fiori  ·  Robert Higley, II  ·  Robert W. Noonan  ·  Michael Grady Jacobs  ·  Patrick Danahy  ·  Christopher Samuel Gardner  ·  Robert Gerlich  ·  John Works  ·  Laurence Abel  ·  John P. Williamson  ·  Michael John Simon  ·  Kiran Kumar Reddy Gopu  ·  John Henwood  ·  Judith Florence Hofmiller  ·  Bradley H. Vadas  ·  Bryan C. Bennett  ·  Timothy M. O'Brien  ·  Kevin Michael McCarthy  ·  Thomas Edward Hynes  ·  John F. Iskyan  ·  H. Joseph Heller  ·  Stephen P. Cherry  ·  Edward Raymond Vanacore  ·  Eric B. Evans • Paul Curioli  ·  Scott J. O'Brien  ·  William Christopher Hunt  ·  Alexander Braginski  ·  Paul R. Hughes  ·  Donald F. Greene  ·  Pedry Grehan  ·  Edward P. York  ·  James J. Hobin  ·  Ruth McCourt  ·  Juliana McCourt  ·  Osseni Mama Garba  ·  William Hill Kelly, Jr.  ·  Brian Thomas Cummins  ·  Eric (Rick) R. Thorpe  ·  Sandra Campbell  ·  John B. Schwartz  ·  Bennett Lawson Fisher  ·  Mark Steven Jardim  ·  Joseph John Coppo  ·  Richard Peter Gabriel, Sr.  ·  Allen Patrick Boyle  ·  Christopher J. Blackwell, FDNY  ·  Roger Mark Rasweiler  ·  Evan Hunter Gillette  ·  Peter Burton Hanson  ·  Sue Kim Hanson  ·  Christine Lee Hanson  ·  Jean Destrehan Roger  ·  Sean S. Hanley  ·  Wilder A. Gomez  ·  Robert Thomas Jordan  ·  Wendy R. Faulkner  ·  Michael G. McGinty  ·  Michele Heidenberger  ·  Daniel Robert Nolan  ·  James A. Gadiel  ·  Thomas F. Theurkauf, Jr.

The National September 11 Memorial 
www.911memorial.org

The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
www.pentagonmemorial.org

Flight 93 Memorial
www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm
 
Let us never forget,
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