Archive: Opinions

Ten years after the 9/11 attacks New York City has stepped into a controversy that has outraged many across the country.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office issued a statement saying that police and fire fighters would not be invited to the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero this year.

"While we are again focused on accommodating victims' family members, given the space constraints, we're working to find ways to recognize and honor first responders, and other groups, at different places and times," said a spokesman for the Mayor.

I am far from the first person to remember that first responders were invited to the site ten years ago.  An Internet search reveals many outraged citizens are expressing amazement that first responders would be excluded, noting that the lack of space at the site isn't preventing prominent politicians from being invited.

By one estimate 91,000 first responders were involved in the search and rescue efforts during and after the attacks.  An argument is being made by the Mayor's office that the ceremony is for the families of the thousands who died on September 11th.  While Bloomberg was not Mayor at that time, surely he remembers that about 400 New York City first responders were killed, including police officers, fire fighters, Port Authority Police, and EMTs with about 2,000 more first responders injured.

All of the men and women who responded put their lives in danger.  That they didn't die that day doesn't make their acts less heroic.  That it is their job to respond doesn't make what they did less heroic.

The terrorists won in many ways that day, but it was the battle, not the war.  The heroes who responded, whether officially or not, were the real winners, demonstrating the American spirit, and the ultimate generosity that could have resulted in the end of their own lives, and did for far too many.

It seems to me that if there is no longer room at Ground Zero because the new World trade Center building is now on that site -- again making the World Trade Center the tallest building in New York City -- another, larger venue should be found.  The opening of the Memorial Plaza is a big deal, but not at the expense of the people who offered their lives to save others ten years ago.

9/11 was about clashing philosophies, money, politics, and symbolism.  But most of all it was about people.  Honoring the dead is important.  Honoring the living who embody the qualities our country stands for is even more important. It pays to remember that and to especially remember the people who should most be honored in memory of that day.  If we're America, we're America because of those first responders and people like them.

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