God Bless America - Remembering September 11th

It has been ten years since our beloved United States of America was viciously attacked by cowardly terrorists.  I remember it was early for us here in Hawaii...maybe 7am or so.  I received a call from my mom who sounded very frantic.  She kept mentioning the towers and what she said just didn't register in mind.  Towers...falling down...attack... How could the Twin Towers have been taken down?  They were the iconic buildings of NYC.  When I finally comprehended what had happen, I was in shock.  I then woke up my husband and son.  They too couldn't believe the enormity of the tragedy.

Personally, my family was not really touched by what happened that day.  It was later that we realized there could have been a tragedy in our family too.  My brother-in- law worked in one of the towers.  By Divine Providence, he was home that day with a torn ligament.  I have mentioned before how many of his co-workers died on September 11th.  Remember "Tom"?  His friend and co-worker who many of you prayed for when he battled a valiant fight against cancer.  He relayed the story of being there that day.  People were crowding into an elevator in hopes of escaping with their lives.  Tom was able to squeeze into an already crowded elevator.  A heavy-set man, just could not fit in.  They had to leave that man behind.  The man died.

We as a nation have changed forever and many in bad ways. But today, we remember the victims and honor the heroes.





The scenes of the area surrounding the World Trade Center was one of chaos and looked much like a war zone the morning of the attack. Who can forget the look of anguish on the faces of the people there.

Father Mychal Judge

Picture source

One of the first bodies to be recovered was that of Father Mychal Judge, a Franciscan priest and chaplain of the New York Fire Department. Most everyone would recognize the picture I am referring to.  As you can see from the above photo, Father Judge was proud to be a part of NYFD.  He gave his life for them.

The following are photos are of Ground Zero and the famous cross found at Ground Zero.  They were taken in 2008 after a day trip to New York City.

For the past few years I have had the privilege of participating in Project 2,996 as an online way of honoring the September 11th victims.

This blog honored three men whose lives were cut remarkably short.

They are:

Robert Scandole who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald

Mark H. Rosen who worked at Sandler O'Neill and Partners

Samuel (Sandy) Ayala) who worked at Windows of the World

I am very sorry I never knew these men personally. If I had then my tributes would have been more worthy of them and their lives.

It was touching to see that a couple of the family members and a friend read the tributes. They not only read them, they took the time to leave comments.

Hi, Robert Scandole was my Uncle. I think you did a wonderful thing writing about him here. He will be missed by all who knew him but his memory will live on forever, thank you for writing such beautiful things about him.

Thank you so much for remembering my loving husband Mark Rosen. I just found this posting-minutes after learning of Osama Bin Laden's death. It is heartwarming for myself and my children to know he has not been forgotten.
Patti Rosen

Beautiful tribute. I knew Mark when he was a Jewish kid from Bayside, Queens, and even though I consider myself an equal opportunity worshipper today, I was born a Jewish girl from Flushing, so I appreciate you having honored that aspect of his being.

Debbie

Eternal rest grant them O Lord
and may Your Perpetual light
shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithfully departed
through the mercy of God
rest in peace.

World Trade Memorial