Seven Years After 9/11, We Still Mourn

It's been seven years since that awful day that changed our lives. Our pain has not eased, and our memories have not dulled. Living on Long Island at the time, I stood at Ground Zero weeks after the attack. I recall as if it were yesterday how the smoke, and the smell, was still hovering over Lower Manhattan. I remember how I cried as I stood by the ruins. There are so many images of that day that would not go away as I looked at the rubble. Seven years later, they still remain.

I remember the 343 firefighters who climbed the stairwells and who never returned.

I remember the brave passengers on Flight 93 who fought back to their last breathe. We may never know just how brave they were. But we do know that their actions saved countless lives in the ground.

I remember the 125 people in the Pentagon who gave their lives in defense of our country.

All in all, there were 2,974 victims that day. Each going about their daily routine not knowing their fate. There were 246 who died on the four planes; 2,603 in the World Trade Center and on the ground; and 125 at the Pentagon. Authorities never found 24 people. More than 90 countries lost people in the attack.

The New York City Fire Department lost 341 firefighters and two paramedics. The New York City Police Department lost 23 officers. The Port Authority Police Department lost 37 officers. Private EMS units lost eight additional EMTs and paramedics.

Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st–105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees alone.

Their sacrifice should never fade away.

God bless them, and their loved ones who still grieve. So that none among us will ever forget, their names can be found here.

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Andy Newman of The New York Times writes this morning of the city's loss.

The question of how New Yorkers view their view may seem abstract, trivial, remote, compared with the pain of thousands upon thousands who lost loved ones, friends or colleagues when the World Trade Center towers fell. But for a broad swath of New Yorkers for whom the two towers were primarily the crowning jewel of a cherished vista, the amputated skyline was a daily reminder of loss. The way they have reached accommodation, or not, with the transformed view provides yet another window into the city’s infinitely long process of recovery.

The 9/11 Commission Report can be viewed here.

The September 11 Digital Archive can be viewed here.

A 9/11 timeline can be viewed here.

9/11 news archives can be viewed here and here. Archived screenshots of online news reports can be viewed here.

Here is an NBC news report:



Say a prayer today if you can.