Every year since September 11, 2001 I've mentioned the following people who were victims of the terrorist attacks, in the hope that some of my friends will remember them:
World Trade Center:
- Vito DeLeo, mechanic at World Trade Center, USA Hockey official
- John Eichler, retired executive at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, brother of Joan Aiello
- John Pocher, bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, alumnus of Essex County Chiefs youth hockey program
- Kalyan Sarkar, Port Authority seismic engineer, father of Kishan Sarkar-- a Rensselaer alumnus
American Airlines Flight 11:
- J. Nicholas Humber, executive at Enron Wind Corporation, Rensselaer Class of 1963
In addition, please remember the 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), the 23 members of the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the 37 member of the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) who made the ultimate sacrifice on that day.
RIP Ace Bailey, killed on 9/11 as a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175. Stanley Cup and Memorial Cup Champion.
Now more famous for how he died than how he lived.
Some of you may have seen that I took an hour to visit the Garden of Reflection 9/11 Memorial in Upper Makefield, PA this morning. I got there before the commemoration of the Attack on the Pentagon at 9:37, and stayed for the end of the service commemorating the Flight 93 plane crash in Shanksville, PA at 10:03. This was a very moving experience.
After the service ended, everyone who was there was given the opportunity to view the fountains which remind most people of the World Trade Center towers. Around those fountains are plaques remembering all 2,973 people officially considered killed on September 11.
We were given the opportunity to place flowers next to the names of the people who we were there to remember. I am including a photo of the flower I placed next to Jack Eichler's name.
I found each person I knew or who was a friend of a friend, and placed a carnation close to their name on the plaques.
This is Pennsylvania's official 9/11 memorial site, and the people who created it did an excellent job of remembering the 17 or 18 Bucks County Residents, 58 residents of Pennsylvania, 42 children from Pennsylvania who lost a parent, and the 2,973 Americans who died that day.
If you have any interest in visiting a 9/11 memorial, I would recommend seeing this one.
Comments