Residents Invited to Attend Remembrance Ceremonies - 9-11 Memorial

Media Release

Thursday, September 06, 2007For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana PaulTelephone: 229-6501

Residents Invited To Attend Remembrance CeremoniesSeptember 11 Marked At Community Events

On the sixth anniversary of one of the worst tragedies to occur in the United States, the city of Las Vegas, Clark County and the Metropolitan Police Department will remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and the families and friends of those lost who still suffer today.

The official community September 11 Remembrance Ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11, at Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Fire Station 5, which is located near the corner of Hinson Road and West Charleston Blvd. The ceremony to remember those who were lost in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the fields of Pennsylvania, will include remarks by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, Clark County Commission Vice-Chair Chip Maxfield, Sheriff Doug Gillespie and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman.

The remembrance ceremony will include the posting of colors led by honor guard units from several public safety agencies. Also, a large U.S. flag will be hoisted above the station by the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Department and the Clark County Fire Department ladder trucks.
Fire Station 5 has some unique features, including a steel beam from the World Trade Center that is on permanent display in front of the station. A special flag that has flown over "ground zero" at the World Trade Center that was presented to the city of Las Vegas in 2004 will be flying over the beam during the ceremony.

In addition, a piece of artwork designed by Citizens Fire Academy graduate Randy Soard, “Faces of the Brave,” will be on display. Soard will give a five minute speech about the project and the special photo that will be on display that day.

The city of Las Vegas is also hosting the second annual America Supports You Freedom Walk on Saturday, September 8. The 2.2-mile walk will begin at 8 a.m. at the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex, located at 7901 W. Washington Ave. Mayor Oscar B. Goodman and Ward 4 Councilman Larry Brown will join the crowd in a moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Entertainer Clint Holmes will lead participants in the National Anthem. The posting of the colors will be presented by Las Vegas Firefighters’ Local 1285 Honor Guard, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Honor Guard and Nellis Air Force Base Honor Guard Colors Team.

The Freedom Walk started in 2005 as a new national tradition to reflect on the lives lost on September 11, renew our commitment to freedom and the values of our country and honor our veterans, past and present.
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Changes Announced for New York 9/11 Memorial

Changes Announced for New York 9/11 Memorial
Updated: December 14th, 2006 09:16 AM EDT

By AMY WESTFELDTAssociated Press Writer
The Sept. 11 memorial will list the names of the dead according to the World Trade Center tower where they died, their company or the plane they were on, a change from the random listing envisioned two years ago by the memorial's designer, officials said Wednesday.
The new arrangement, announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was supported by the memorial architect but outraged relatives who wanted to list their loved ones' ages, the floor they worked on at the trade center, and the ranks of fire and police officials who rushed into the buildings.

"The question of how the names are listed evokes strong feeling and convictions from relatives, colleagues and friends of those we lost," said Bloomberg, the chairman of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. "I have spent a lot of time listening to everyone's views on the subject and there is no 'right' answer. Nevertheless, it is time to move forward."

Michael Arad, the designer of the "Reflecting Absence" memorial who originally proposed listing the names of the nearly 3,000 victims in random order to reflect the chaos of Sept. 11, said the new proposal "preserves the equality of all victims while honoring the selfless sacrifice of the first responders."

"This allows us to place the names of those who died that day next to each other in a meaningful way, marking the names of family and friends together, as they had lived and died."

Edie Lutnick, who has led a group of families and fire and police unions that pushed to group victims and list details including their age and employer, said the new arrangement is unacceptable and shouldn't be decided by the mayor.

"Why is it his decision? It shouldn't be his decision to make. It should be the decision of the families ... how the names of their loved ones are listed in their final resting place," said Lutnick, whose brother, Gary, was one of 658 people killed from the Cantor Fitzgerald bond brokerage.
The new arrangement includes 10 groupings of names of the 2,979 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, and in the 1993 trade center bombing.

The names of civilians who died in the north tower and aboard the hijacked jetliner that crashed into it will be listed on a parapet surrounding a reflecting pool marking the north tower's footprint.

The names of rescue workers killed in both towers, those killed on the flights that crashed into the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., in the 1993 bombing and in the south tower will be listed around the south tower's footprint.

The names of the four flights, the 1993 bombing and different fire engine companies will be included. And while trade center workers will be listed by employer, the name of the company will not be included.

The names will still be listed randomly within their categories, although foundation president Joseph Daniels said families could request that family members who died together on a plane or in a building be listed together.

The foundation also announced that it had privately raised $202 million of a $300 million goal to help build the memorial, which has been under construction since the spring. In October, Bloomberg was named chairman of the foundation, which had been struggling to raise money.

Why You Should Visit St. Paul's Chapel - Lower Manhattan's First 9-11 Memorial

By Mark Stuart ELLISON

While imperious billionaires bicker over construction of the Ground Zero Memorial, one already exists. It’s St. Paul’s Chapel. The Chapel, a small, unassuming structure located at Broadway and Fulton Street, is a stone’s throw from the World Trade Center's footprints. And the storied history of St. Paul's now includes 9-11.

For eight months following 9-11, over 14,000 people worked 12-hour shifts at St. Paul’s serving meals, making beds, and comforting first responders and other personnel who toiled at Ground Zero. Medical providers worked tirelessly at the Chapel. Between 2,000 and 3,000 meals were served here each day.

Even before 9-11, St. Paul’s generously provided for the needy. Since 1982 the Chapel has had an on-premises shelter which serves up to 10 men at a time and teaches life-skills for up to nine months.

Today St. Paul’s is a stately shrine to the victims and responders of 9-11. Entering the Chapel, the visitor is struck by a plethora of responders’ patches adorning a giant bulletin board. A bobby’s helmet belonging to a member of the British Transport Police stands out. Large, colorful memorial tapestries donated from around the world hang from the ceiling. A photographic exhibit is punctuated by a picture of a cross made by two surviving Tower beams standing in the rubble.

On display is a collection of ordinary personal items used to provide for the thousands sheltered at the Chapel in the months following 9-11. They look unremarkable, but, if carefully preserved, will grow quaint and take on the status of artifacts after many years. A brunette, thirtyish woman softly cries in front of a video featuring a 9-11 memorial speech by Mayor Giuliani and the mellow tones of Irish tenor Ronan Tynan singing “God Bless America”. Dozens quietly move about the exhibits, which include digitized archives. Some pray in the pews.

Perhaps the most meaningful exhibits are the crayon messages scrawled by visitors - to which I felt compelled to make a contribution - and the handwritten letters posted by schoolchildren. A particularly moving one was from Michelle Marshall, 12, of Ironton, Ohio:

Sometimes when I pray,Sometimes when I’m in my bed,Saying my prayers,I pray for the people that did this to us.We are so loving and supportive to the other countries.Sometimes, I just pray for the people who lost loved ones.I lay down in my room praying that nothing else will happen,that they would stop this and the people who are responsible for the attacks. Sometimes I wonder when this will be over.

The letter is followed by crayon drawings of planes hitting the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. St. Paul’s was nearly destroyed by fire twice. The first instance occurred on September 21, 1776, when a Manhattan fire destroyed over 500 buildings. St. Paul’s was saved by dedicated New Yorkers who doused the Chapel all night with buckets of water.

The second occurred on September 11, 2001, when the Chapel’s modest spire was seen overlooking the black smoke emanating from across the street at Ground Zero. With the exception of an early l9th century organ damaged by dust from the Twin Towers, the Chapel was miraculously unscathed.
St. Paul’s is Manhattan’s only colonial-era church. Its 14 glass chandeliers constitute one of the largest private collections of 18th century American crystal works. Outside, on the porch, is the tomb of Gen. Richard Montgomery, the first officer killed in the American Revolution.

Montgomery’s Tomb was the first memorial commissioned by the U.S. government. The Chapel’s two bells were made at the same London foundry that cast the Liberty Bell.

In the north aisle is George Washington’s Pew Box, where the first President prayed right after his inauguration on April 30, 1789. Washington continued to attend services at St. Paul’s for nearly two years until the nation’s capital was relocated from New York to Philadelphia in 1790. And a memorial service was held for Washington at St. Paul’s shortly after his death in 1799.
History continues to be made at St. Paul’s post-9-11. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani gave his farewell address here on December 27, 2001.

The Chapel’s doors are open during daylight hours. Concerts are held throughout the year. Admission is free.

For those of us who lived through 9-11, St. Paul’s is a comfort to the soul. And it is a welcoming monument on which all Americans can find common ground.

Making memorials reality no easy task

Before 9/11 plan, a Desert Storm monument was in the works
Making memorials reality no easy task

By KEVIN AMERMAN kamerman@leader.net

WILKES-BARRE – More than a month after announcing plans to build a $1.3 million 9/11 memorial in Kirby Park, officials have yet to say how much has been raised for the heavily criticized project.

Raising money for such a monument can be a daunting task. Just ask the group of eight or so people who in 1991 announced plans to construct a $100,000 memorial for Operation Desert Storm.

Fifteen years later, the dwindling group has reached a standstill, with about one-fifth of the desired goal in its account.

“It’s a small valley. How much can people give?” asked Barbara Ryan, who fought in Desert Storm as a Navy Reservist and oversees the Desert Storm Memorial Committee with her husband, Frederick Ryan, a retired Navy veteran.

The nonprofit organization has $20,594 in its account. The Ryans said the designer of the monument, Gerhard Baut of Baut Studios in Swoyersville, recently decided he can draw up a scaled-down version of the monument for about $30,000. But they doubt another $10,000 can be raised.

Frederick Ryan still wants to build something to honor those who served in Desert Storm.
“We still want to do something because a lot of people have invested money in this,” he said.
Although they are set on erecting their proposed monument, the Ryans and others who helped raise that money aren’t supportive of the plan for the 9/11 monument. Many residents have also criticized the plan, causing verbal battles with Wilkes-Barre city council members.
Wilkes-Barre attorney Tom Marsilio, a retired marine who helped the Desert Storm Memorial Committee become a nonprofit organization at no charge and helped raise funds for it, said he agrees that 9/11 affected the whole country, “but $1.3 million is a heck of a lot of money.”
“Personally, I think it’s too excessive. And, whether or not there will be a benefit to the city is a big question,” he said, responding to officials’ claims that the monument would draw people from all over the country to Wilkes-Barre.

Barbara Ryan agreed, saying perhaps raising money for scholarship funds or some other form of assistance for family members of 9/11 victims would be more appropriate.

Frank Carden, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran who helped raise money for the Desert Storm monument, also said the proposed 9/11 memorial is too expensive and said a plaque for victims of the terrorist attacks might be more fitting.

“There have been so many appropriate ways of either compensating or honoring 9/11 people,” Carden said. “I don’t think we need another memorial.”

While most opponents attack the price, size and proposed location of the 9/11 monument, Carden also criticized its merit, saying memorializing innocent victims is not the same as honoring “a soldier’s life” in which people know they are risking their lives.

“They were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Carden said. “It can happen to anybody at any time. It can happen to me tomorrow. … It wasn’t like someone who goes into battle every day.”

But officials have said the monument will also honor the emergency crews who put their lives on the line by responding after the attacks and those who fought in war after it.

Dianne Kircher of Forty Fort said she thinks the 9/11 memorial is a good idea, but says the Desert Storm memorial, which she helped raise money for, should be built first.

Judging from the proposed Desert Storm memorial, initial interest is key.

“The first year there was good interest,” said Frederick Ryan. “Then it just started to die.”
Marsilio said fundraising contributions “reached a trickling stage.”

“The brevity and the few number of casualties contributed to the waning interest after the peak,” Marsilio said.

Those with the ability to make the Desert Storm monument a reality didn’t support it, Carden said.

“We did not get much backing from prominent people or people who were well-off in the community,” he said. “Most money was raised through selling flags and T-shirts, and that’s nickel and dime stuff. It’s unfortunate, people who have the biggest stake and who benefit the most often are less supportive. It’s the Joe six-packs of the world (who contribute).”

Original plans for the Desert Storm memorial called for a single pillar several feet high to be placed in the middle of a marble base. It would have been built near the Luzerne County Courthouse.

The 9/11 memorial proposed by the city and county is much larger in price and scope. It would be placed by a pond at Kirby Park and would feature 20 granite pillars – nine on one side and 11 on the other – with names of those who died inscribed on them. The monument would also be surrounded by shrubbery and flags, and a granite pedestal would be placed in the middle describing the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The man overseeing contributions that come in for the 9/11 memorial, City Administrator J.J. Murphy, couldn’t give even a round figure when asked on Wednesday how much has been raised.

“Frankly, I haven’t done anything with the monument,” Murphy said, stating that he’s been busy with other city priorities such as finalizing a deal to bring wireless Internet to the city and preparing for the construction of the intermodal center.

Murphy said some people have expressed interest in donating money between $500 and $1,000, but he said he hasn’t had a chance to collect it. He said he still believes the projected in feasible.

“We’ll give it our best effort,” he said. “If the public doesn’t want to get behind a project like this, than maybe they don’t.”

Fundraisers for the proposed Desert Storm memorial say they have had their fair share of critics. But most came after they collected the money. There were rumors that the organization cleared much more than it did and people have wondered why nothing has been built and where the money went, Barbara Ryan said.

“There’s not even a question of money missing,” Frederick Ryan said. “We can track almost every penny.”

Although the organization raised more than $50,000, it had to pay for the cost of the T-shirts it sold and for spaces and insurance at fairs and festivals.

“People weren’t looking at what we spent,” Barbara Ryan said, noting that volunteers didn’t even take money out for expenses such as gas. “We had to work really hard and long to get what we got.”

The group lost about $3,000 by placing the money it raised into a liquid asset fund tied in with the stock market, the Ryans said.

“The goal was an extremely noble one, and to get trashed like this was disconcerting,” Marsilio said.

The Ryans, who now live in Bethlehem, say more than half of the original fundraisers have left Luzerne County.

Kevin Amerman, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.

Decision Needs to be Made on 9/11 Memorial Names

Decision Needs To Be Made On 9/11 Memorial Names

(AP) NEW YORK Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that "less is more" when it comes to the sensitive issue of how victims should be identified on the Sept. 11 memorial. "None of us can feel what a relative feels, of somebody lost, but the memorial is for the country, it is for the world, it is for all New Yorkers," Bloomberg said in his first public remarks on the contentious issue since he was named last week to head the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, which is raising money for the memorial and finalizing its design. "We'll have to come to some resolution and if the parties can't resolve it, then I, then the decision maker, the decision has to be made and it will be made." Many family members, supported by city fire and police unions, have lobbied for two years to group names of the nearly 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, by where they worked and died, and to list their ages, the company they worked for or the plane they were on next to their names. "What is so wrong with letting people know that the majority of these people died in the prime of their life?" said Edie Lutnick, whose 36-year-old brother, Gary, was among 658 victims from Cantor Fitzgerald. Bloomberg said memorial architect Michael Arad's design may support a more minimalist approach. "I've always been a believer in the less is more, particularly when it comes to things that are trying to encourage you to think," he said. "And that to me is what Michael Arad's design really was all about -- the fact that the voids are there, you've got to think about what was here and why was it taken away from us." Arad proposed listing the victims randomly to show the chaos of the day, but has said he was open to further iscussion. Bloomberg is in charge of fundraising for the memorial, which officials hope to open in 2009.

Bloomberg to lead 9/11 memorial board staff and agencies

Bloomberg to lead 9/11 memorial board Staff and agencies
09 October, 2006
By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 5, 7:41 PM ET

NEW YORK - The foundation in charge of raising money for a Sept. 11 memorial on Thursday gave control of the struggling effort to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an early critic of the most expensive memorial in U.S. history.

"We are grateful that someone of his stature in so many different roles, from philanthropy to business to the rebuilding itself, will serve as chairman," retiring Chairman John Whitehead said.

Bloomberg was appointed despite opposition from many victims‘ families who alleged that he did not care about their issues and had too often criticized the project.

Just 20 minutes after Bloomberg‘s appointment, American Express announced a $10 million donation. The company had been among several large corporations that withheld donations while the memorial‘s design and budget were revised. Government agencies have pledged up to $445 million more.
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WTC Memorial Foundation: http://www.buildthememorial.org

Logan 9/11 Memorial Plans Unveiled

Logan 9/11 Memorial Plans Unveiled
Memorial To Open In Two Years

BOSTON -- Travelers and employees at Logan International Airport paused to mark five years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Monday. Those reflections took place in many places inside the sprawling complex, but soon there will be a special memorial at the airport.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the memorial will include a granite circle with the words, "Remember This Day."

Drawings show that visitors will enter Logan's Sept. 11 memorial through two paths that will lead them through landscaped grounds to a glass-cubed structure. At that location, the names of those on board both planes that took off from Logan and crashed into the twin towers will be etched on glass panels.

"These planes originated in Boston. So it's nice to have a memorial that, here at Logan, that acknowledges the fact that there was a big loss here in Boston," said Mike Sweeney, who lost a family member on Sept. 11 , 2001.

"What we wanted to accomplish at first was to commemorate people who had died and give their families a place to grieve. What we wanted to do at the end of the process was those things, which are extremely important but also create a place that told the story of Sept. 11 to everybody," said David Dixon of the Boston Society of Architects.

The structure's ceiling will represent a fractured sky.

"It's kind of a funny analogy, but if you think back to the movie 'Jaws' -- did any of us look at the ocean the same way again? And do any of us look at the sky again in the same way? We look at it differently," said Peg Ogonowski, who lost a family member on Sept. 11 , 2001.

The memorial was built on a 2-acre parcel considered the heart of the airport. The land was donated by the Hilton Hotel, which for two weeks became a refuge for the families of those killed on Sept. 11 , 2001.

The Hilton redesigned the front of its property to complement the memorial.
"And actually, to do what people on this committee did, which was to start with personal grief and response to it and move on to what are we going to do that's civic for everyone that comes out of our grief. What gift can we give from our grief," Dixon said.

Planners said the memorial will be ready to open in two years.

Indiana Chief Quits Over 9/11 Memorial

Indiana Chief Quits Over 9/11 Memorial

Courtesy of the Northwest Indiana Times

Courtesy of John J. Watkins/Northwest Indiana Times

Crown Point Chief Mark Oster resigned Tuesday after Mayor Dan Klein became upset that he didn't seek permission to put this message on the department's sign.

Crown Point, Ind.-- A simple message honoring the 343 firefighters killed when the World Trade Center's Twin Towers fell five years ago turned out to be the final straw for Crown Point's fire chief.

Mark Oster resigned from the post Tuesday morning after he said Mayor Dan Klein became upset that he didn't seek the mayor's permission to put up the message on the sign in front of the Crown Point Fire Department.

"After three months I basically had all I could take," Oster said, adding that he was not able to make a move without the mayor's permission.

He is the fourth fire chief in five years in Crown Point.

Klein, in a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon, said he had met with Oster, but disagrees with his assessment.

"Stemming from this conversation, I have been accused of disapproving a message on the Crown Point Fire Department sign that honored the firefighters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Let the record show that I have no problem honoring these individuals," he said. "In fact, I believe it necessary to remember the fallen police and fire rescue workers and volunteers that gave the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

"The issue that I did have with the sign, however, is that it was not inclusive of the whole Fire Department. Not only should the volunteers recognize the victims, but so, too, the whole C.P. Fire Department as well as the whole city of Crown Point. In response, I requested that the former chief, who was given approval to make final decisions on the Crown Point fire sign, take this into consideration. I believe that this allegation is a blatant attack on my character, my loyalty to my country and those who serve it. I find these comments insulting and without merit," he said.

The city, in an earlier statement, called Oster's decision "regrettable," and said a search for a new chief already has begun. Until a replacement is found, EMS Division Chief Mark Baumgardner Sr. will serve as acting chief.

Klein said he knew Oster's tenure would be limited, but he did not expect it to end so soon.
"We had come to the realization that Mark was unable to find a comfort zone with our small-town atmosphere. I believe the constraints of maintaining a permanent residence in Florida, adapting to the budget restraints of a small municipality compared to a large city and conflicts with taxpayer justifications on city resources led to Mark's decision," Klein said in a statement.
Oster was a firefighter in Indianapolis for 28 years and a volunteer firefighter in the city of Lawrence for 20 years. Though he retired and was living in Florida, he said he always wanted to be the fire chief in a small community and applied for the Crown Point spot.

In just the few months he has been in Crown Point, he reorganized the department to include three division chiefs and put renewed priority on training. The purchase of two new firetrucks also has been approved.

"From the day that I walked in the door here as the new chief, members of the Fire Department were very open armed to me, very acceptive of changes to move the department forward. I just felt things were going in a very positive nature. There's just things that I think the department ought to be doing," he said.

However, Oster said, he was not allowed to create a budget or capital improvement plan, nor was he allowed to speak to the City Council without permission from the mayor.
"I had no idea it would be like what it is," he said.

He said he plans to leave Crown Point and return to Florida.

Oster said he met with Klein about the sign Monday night.

"I just decided right then that I had had enough," he said.

Baumgardner said in a statement that he is ready to do what is best for the department and the city.

Klein said Baumgardner will be a good fit.

"He will guide a competent and hardworking group of firefighters, a group that maintains one of the highest emergency response standards in the state," Klein said.
Republished with permission of the Northwest Indiana Times.

Massport Unveils Airport's 9/11 Memorial Design

Massport Unveils Airport's 9/11 Memorial Design

BOSTON

The Massachusetts Port Authority unveiled the design of Logan Airport's 9/11 Memorial Wednesday. The memorial will honor the passengers and crew of the two hijacked planes which were flown into the World Trade Center towers. It will also serve as a place of reflection for the victims' families, the airport workers and all those affected by the events of 9/11."Logan Airport and the lives of the people who work here were forever changed by the tragic events of 9/11,"said Massport CEO Thomas J. Kinton, Jr. "They feel the loss of their friends, colleagues and customers every day. The Airport 9/11 Memorial will provide a place for the airport community to honor those who we have lost but never forgotten, and remember how the airport community came together in the days following 9/11."Visitors will enter the Memorial and follow one of two paths through a grove of Ginkgo trees. The paths will converge at a large glass sculpture - the place of remembrance - that will contain two glass panels inscribed with the names of the passengers and crew of the two flights and their departure times from Logan Airport. A prism of reflective panels will make the sky appear fractured. At night, the sculpture will become an illuminated beacon. Upon exiting, visitors will see the words "Remember this day" etched in granite paving.The memorial will sit on a two acre site adjacent to the Hilton Hotel. The site was selected because of its visibility, pedestrian access, and proximity to the Hotel.