In Remembrance of all who perished on 9-11

September 11, 2011

In the words of Deb Peluso

Personally I hate this time of year, with all the remembrances and tributes. I don’t want to remember. I was on my way over the George Washington bridge when the first plane hit, and all I could see was smoke, but I knew how devastating this event was about to be. The radio DJ kept saying “what a terrible accident”. It would only be after the 2nd plane hit that we all realized it wasn’t an accident. My cousin Freddie lost 5 people from his battalion that day, and he also lost numerous friends. Like so many others he will never be the same because of that day. So many people seem fascinated by the events of that day, they want to watch the 2 hour specials, relive the day, see the photos of the devastation. I have no interest in this. People forget the months following, if you weren’t in NYC you didn’t drive along side the trucks carrying the remains of the bodies in coolers…..you didn’t call in sick to work on days that there were red and orange terror alerts in the city…..you didn’t freeze when fighter jets flew past your office building…..you didn’t have to open your mail with gloves on due to the anthrax scares. It was a horrible time to be in NY. There was, however, a renewed appreciation for firefighters, police officers, and all those involved in the rescue process. I’m grateful my cousin Freddie remained safe, and my prayers go out to the families of F.F. Angel Juarbe, F.F. Mike Mullan, F.F. Steve Belson, Lt. Phil Petti and B.C. Orio Palmer, the five members of Freddie’s battalion who gave up their lives to save others.