Three days ago it was the 9th anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11. On the first anniversary I wrote a series of commentaries that aired on a television special program in New York.
This week on this blog I am posting five of the commentaries in remembrance and reflection.
Commentary Two:
Like many of you, I visited Ground Zero a number of times over the past year. I passed the wall of shrines at Trinity Church where flowers, letters, and photos are set in sacred reverence on a wrought iron fence.
Each tribute a collective jolt and individual pain reminding us of what we lost.
We prayed and tried to rescue those we thought might be alive and trapped beneath the tombs of debris. We cried as each body was recovered and still we hoped.
As the time passed our prayers of hope gave way to the horror of the numbers dead and the knowing that no one could survive. All we could do was to stand in silence as the flag draped bodies passed from the pit into the broken hearts of their families and we ached for those who would have no body to mourn and to bury.
Our leaders carried the war on terrorism to where it seemingly began. The civilized world said no to the inhumanity of terror and vowed to destroy the organizations that promote and encourage it as a means to a religious end.
The war is far from over, only the first year is over. Like many of you I will visit Ground Zero again and again.
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