Thursday, September 11, 2008

9/11: Seven Years On

As the world watched Barack Obama and John McCain put their differences aside for a day, share a hug and make remembrance speeches at Ground Zero in New York; A call was being made at the site of another terrorist attack on that day, a call to Remember… Reflect… Renew.

The Pentagon Memorial, was dedicated today to the memory of the 184 people who perished in the September 11th attack on the nucleus of the blanket of freedom provided almost worldwide by the noble forces of the United States Military.

Seven years after AA flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, the nation's first major memorial to the tragic events of 9/11 opened to the public after a dedication ceremony attended by 20,000 guests, including President Bush.

The Memorial is a small park of benches and trees located just feet from where the aircraft struck the building. Family members of those who died in the attack played an important role in raising the funds needed for it's construction and insisted that it should be placed at the site of the aircraft's impact with the building.

"It's an individual memorial. It's a collective memorial. It kind of tells a story of what happened that day," says Jim Laychak, who heads the Pentagon Memorial Fund and whose brother David died on 9/11.

"Seven years ago at this hour a doomed airliner plunged from the sky, split the rock and steel of this building and changed our world forever," Bush said in his dedication speech. "The years that followed have seen justice delivered to evil men in battles fought in distant lands. Since 9/11, our troops have taken the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home," said the President, joined at the ceremony by former SECDEF Donald Rumsfeld, who was actually in the Pentagon during the attack.

Rumsfeld, who wore a sling on his arm from recent shoulder surgery, said it was at the Pentagon that the fate of the victims - both on the ground and on the plane - were "cruelly merged forever." His successor, SECDEF Robert Gates, said that while the Pentagon represents U.S. military power, the memorial will be a remembrance of how "fanaticism once laid its terrible hand upon this building."

"Thanks to the brave men and women, and all those who work to keep us safe, there has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days," President Bush said to applause. The ceremony was the last time that he will lead the nation in recalling the attacks that prompted him to declare a Global War on Terrorism that has defined his presidency.

Though now open to the public, the fundraising effort to pay off the memorial will continue. So far, $19 million of the memorial's $22 million construction costs have been donated and an additional $10 million is needed to fund an endowment to maintain the memorial.

You can donate here: http://www.pentagonmemorial.net

Source: ABC News, Reuters, Associated Press.

2 comments:

Bruce Russell said...

The previous administration setting the table for the attacks through inaction will damn Clinton and his cronies in future analysis, while the Bush administration's success in preventing further terrorist insurgency on American soil will redeem our 43rd President to history.

God bless America, and while He's at it, God bless Ireland.

Anonymous said...

Sadly Bruce Russell you are sadly right about the Clinton Administration , political correctness and the fear of offending the world stopped them from killing Osama bin laden back in the nineties. When an FBI team investigating the the Attack on the Vincennes in the 90's the Clinton appointed ambassador ( A woman) would not allow them to investigate Bin Ladens connections in the country for fear of offending his family and then she would not allow the female members of the team carry out investigations because of the fact they were dressed incorrectly for a muslim country and would "Offend" those they were questioning??!?!? Of course the press are also to blame , do you remember the attack on the Milk Factory in Sudan because it was a suspected Al Queda operation? The worlds press including "Intellectuals" such as Robert Fisk laughed at the preposterous Idea that Bin Laden was a threat!