I haven’t talked about this before but on the one-year anniversary of the September 11, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center I feel I need to say something.

I watched the Towers being built and I took pictures from the roof observation deck of the North Tower when it was opened to the public. The Towers were a familiar sight to me.  I saw them hundreds of times from every direction on the ground and at least a dozen times from the air.  When I learned to sail in the L.I. sound I used them as a landmark. They were an integral part of the New York City skyline.

I was working from home on September 11th.  I watched in real time on TV as the South Tower was hit and I watched both Towers collapse into piles of rubble. It was a sad sight to see them fall.  It made my blood boil when I realized what caused them to fall that morning.  It makes my blood boil today when I think about it.  I visited the site a few months ago.  It was a sad day to look into the pit and to remember what happened.  

A friend of mine lost his son-in-law that that morning in September.   He isn’t a close friend and I only bump into him every now and then in the office. He’s not around much anymore and he frequently works from home.  I never know quite what to say to him so I just ask him how things are going and he always gives the same answer.  “We’re doing OK, but things are tough”  

His son-in-law’s office was directly in the path of where the plane crashed into the building.  They never found a trace of him.  They will never find a trace of him.

I attended the memorial service but there wasn’t any closure for the family. There was no funeral. They did not have a body to bury.  They will never have a body to bury.  There will never be any real closure for the family.  

His wife has been on TV several times over the past year.  She gave birth to their first child after the attack.  What should have been a joyous moment was a sad and somber one.  She lost her husband, her child lost a father, a mother and father lost a son, and his sisters lost their brother.  His many friends lost a close friend.  All Americans lost a brother American that day.

I’m not asking for your prayers.  I’m not asking for you to donate any money.  I only ask you to remember all the men, women and children who died that day in all the terrorist attacks.  I only ask you to fight terrorism in any and every way that you can.  I only ask you to never forget that day.  

Thanks.

[img]http://www.portauthoritypolicememorial.org/WTC1.jpg[/img]

Remembering.

Never Forgetting.

God bless them all.

Thanks for the post.

I will remember.

We will.  It's just a question of when.