A number of residents of my New Jersey hometown worked in Manhattan and died in the attack on the World Trade Towers September 11, 2001 . One man who worked with elevators near the
Twin Towers
A neighbor who lived a few houses away from us described another act of
courage and human concern. At the time that the first tower was attacked, our
neighbor was with his supervisor, a man who was born and raised in our
hometown. The two men saw what was happening from the vantage of an office
window on the 102nd floor of the second tower. Our neighbor's boss
immediately told him to get out of the building, that he would warn everyone
else on the floor to leave immediately. My neighbor lived to tell the tale. His
boss? Not so fortunate. He didn’t make it out.
The parents of these two courageous men who lost their lives trying to
help others were also good, caring individuals. They continued to live in our
town with heavy hearts. It is a terrible tragedy to suffer the loss of one’s
child.
A memorial was erected at the civic center and a ceremony is held every
year on September 11th. Ours may have been just an ordinary American
town like so many others, and yet in its own way it is special because of the
people who live there.
As a nation, we should neither forgive nor forget the murder of
thousands of ordinary, innocent people on that fateful day when terrorists
wreaked havoc on our country.
Courage, indeed. And grief. We must never forget, nor let down our guard. Thank you for this touching post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by, Janis. It is so important for all of us to care.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Jacquie. I can't believe it's been thirteen years. Seems like yesterday. The horror is sort of always with you, you know?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it happened yesterday. I think we all remember what we were doing that horrible morning.
DeleteJacquie, thank you for the touching post. As you said, we should never forget what happened. God love the souls who perished.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase George Santayana. those who do not remember history are destined to repeat the same mistakes.
DeleteThank you for the post, Jacqui. From my perch out here on the West Coast, I can only try to imagine how personal that event was to the people who lived nearby and lost friends, neighbors and loved ones in the Towers. It's good to remember, no matter how painful.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an important point. People in other places not directly effected by the 9/11 attack will sometimes shrug it off. But it is something that needs to matter to all Americans.
Thanks for posting, Jacquie. A student's father was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11. Many federal workers from Northern VA were involved. A VERY sad day for all.
ReplyDeleteA number of people were killed at the Pentagon attack as well. And the people on the hijacked planes died too. A great tragedy for the entire country.
DeleteA moving post, Jacquie. We all share this loss no matter where we live.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anita.
DeleteWe all share the horrific memory of folks like your heroic neighbors Thanks for the meanigful and sincere tribute.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. There are so many stories of courage and suffering associated with 9/11. It would take many hours to recount them all.
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