In Memoriam 9/11: Hometown Heroes

A number of residents of my New Jersey hometown worked in Manhattan and died in the attack on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. One man who worked with elevators near the Twin Towers hurried to the disaster hoping he could help bring people to safety. He lost his own life in making this heroic rescue effort.

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 102^nd 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 are 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 11^th. 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.