Now that 9/11/2007 has passed, we are going to leave this link at the top of our Home page permanently for those who have the heart to fully recall the day. Steve Golding’s unforgettable Attack 911 has always seemed to us to be the very best of the tributes to the victims and the heroes of 9/11 – and a vital reality check.

On September 10th, New Yorker Daniel Stadnyckyj left a comment on the website that ended with these words:

I won’t ever look in that direction again if the towers aren’t rebuilt. There’ll be nothing there to see.

We recently received this poignant message from a strong supporter who grew up in the New York area:

My husband and I were married on 9/11/2004. We originally didn’t think of it as an option; we thought it might be construed as disrespectful. The more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea of taking the day back. The whole point of the attack was to make us fearful and full of doubt; to make us back away from living the lives we wanted, so Ray and I decided that was a great reason TO get married on 9/11. We had a moment of respectful silence during the ceremony, and proceeded to have a beautiful wedding. Those who died that day didn’t get to go back to their families and live their lives, but we can continue on and celebrate the life and freedoms that the terrorists took away from others. Every 9/11 is bittersweet; I love my husband with all my heart yet we also are forced to reflect on the often fleeting nature of life, and how a moment can change it forever.

I see rebuilding the Towers as similar to our decision to get married on September 11. You don’t want to forget, you want to respect; you don’t want their death to have been in vain, for their sacrifice to only mean that we cower and try to spend the remainder of OUR lives trying not to offend. What the terrorists hate, we love - freedom of speech and religion, commerce, finance, culture, man’s achievement and capabilities, the bustle of capitalism, the discourse of divergent ideas - and they destroyed the Towers because they were symbols of those things. So to do anything less than try to rebuild is to say, you are correct; all those things are wrong.

That’s why with all my heart I want you to succeed. I pray for your success, and wish for good luck, good fortune for you. - Hanya Poczynok | Bellevue, WA

In June, this message was posted on the “New York Sun” website after Alicia Colon’s column — “A Bigger, Better Ground Zero”:

My husband died in the 9/11 attacks at the WTC and honestly, I am sick and tired of seeing this continued argument of whether to rebuild or not and if so where… 6 years later. I still work in Manhattan and have to pass that gaping hole 5 days a week. I commend Alicia on raising up the voice of the people who are “connected” to those buildings that were destroyed and the lives that were lost with them. I would truly appreciate the visions of rebuilding on my daily commute rather than still.. empty.. nothingness.

All of us New Yorkers who were present that horrible day were victims even if we did not lose our lives or the life of a loved one. We lost a part of our world. I’ve lived my whole life in NYC and truthfully only set foot twice inside the twin towers and that was in the shopping plaza and subway stations both below ground level. I’ve never even experienced that awesome view I’ve only heard about. I’d hate to think that I never will.

I agree with you Alicia, we need to rebuild those towers….that will be MY memorial.

See About.com’s Tribute to the Twin Towers

 

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