President Obama asks Americans to honor 9-11 victims
by encouraging acts of service and charity
By Mark Putnam
Managing editor
On Sunday people will gather in places of worship or around their dinner tables across the country as they do each week, but this day will have added significance as Sunday, September 11, 2011 marks 10 years to the day that America was attacked by a worldwide terrorist network.
File photo
PEOPLE GATHERED at Riverside Park in Presque Isle the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, gaining comfort and strength from others, while praying for those killed, injured or missing as a result of the tragic events earlier in the day.
The aggressor, al-Qaeda, was unknown to most Americans in 2001, but their carefully calculated and methodically orchestrated surprise attack — highjacking and piloting four fully fueled passenger jet airliners and flying them into heavily populated and politically significant targets — shocked the United States and pulled our country into a multi-front war that continues today.
On that fateful Tuesday morning, two jumbo jets, American Airlines Flight 11 with 92 passengers and United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65 persons, had departed Boston for Los Angeles. Both jets were diverted by the hijackers to New York City where they were piloted by the terrorists themselves into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The impact and subsequent fire caused both 110-story skyscrapers to collapse, killing 2,752 persons, including hundreds of fire/rescue workers and persons employed in the complex.
United Airlines Flight 93, which had departed from Newark, N.J. for San Francisco, and American Airlines Flight 77, which had departed from Dulles (Virginia) for Los Angeles, were also hijacked. Flight 77, with 64 people on board, was diverted to Washington, D.C., then steered by the terrorists into the Pentagon building, killing all passengers and 125 military personnel on the ground. Flight 93, with 44 persons on board, was also diverted toward Washington but crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the terrorists in the cockpit.
In a Sept. 20 address to a joint session of the Congress, President George W. Bush called the unprovoked attacks an act of war and promised a swift response.
“Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done,” he said.
“Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen,” he added.
“The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them. Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated,” said President Bush.
Much like the sunrise bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on Dec. 7, 1941, the unprovoked suicide strikes which killed nearly 3,000 Americans brought a swift and unified military response by the U.S. and its allies.
A War on Terror was launched on Sept. 20, 2001 to seek and destroy al-Qaeda at its headquarters in Afghanistan and remote terrorist outposts in other places including Kenya, Ethiopia and the Phillipines. The leader of the enemy was Osama bin Ladin, who was eventually identified and killed in May of this year. However, America remains at war in 2011 on multiple fronts including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
As of Aug. 30 , at least 1,640 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan since 2001, according to Associated Press reports. Another 4,474 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Their ultimate sacrifice is a daily reminder of the fateful events of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
This Sunday, Americans and their friends around the globe will remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and pay tribute to those who died that day and the thousands more who have given their lives in the ongoing effort to defeat terrorists who consider the United States and other democratic nations their enemy.
At Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral, three days of concerts, talks and worship are planned, starting Friday, Sept. 9, and ending the evening of Sept. 11, when President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak to the nation. Entitled “A Call to Compassion,” the event is designed to “honor the memories of those lost, heal the wounds caused by terrorism and war, and gain new hope to move forward as a nation,” a news release said. He will also attend ceremonies in New York City and Shanksville, Pa.
In an Aug. 27 address, President Obama recalled the events of Sept. 11 and suggested Americans mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks by performing acts of service and charity. The attacks “brought out the best in the American people,” he said, adding “Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost; a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.”
Locally, the leader of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Maine, Bishop Richard Malone, will conduct special services at Caribou’s Holy Rosary Church on Saturday, Sept. 10 to recognize the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “Blue Mass” will pay tribute to the state’s police, firefighters and paramedics; it takes place each year on the weekend closest to the 9/11 anniversary. Last year Lewiston hosted the ceremony.
Members of Maine’s public safety agencies have been invited to attend in uniform and color guards will be on hand and vehicles representing the various departments will be on display around the church grounds.
