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Finding Ways to Honor Those Lost on 9/11

September 11, 2015 by Eugene Grygo for FTF News

LINK: http://www.ftfnews.com/finding-ways-to-honor-those-lost-on-911-3/8385

It’s extremely important that we always stop and remember September 11, 2001 and the horrors of that day.

I am not grinding any axe for a political agenda following the 9/11 attacks. In fact, I think it’s disrespectful to reduce that day to a political discussion as if its impacts are now part of history, 14 years later. We know the impacts of 9/11 are still being felt today by survivors and their families and friends that have had their lives forever changed by the events of that terrible morning. It is felt by those of us who lost friends and coworkers. Time doesn’t heal all wounds but it helps us cope.

It also helps that we can so easily see the Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center) from downtown, a quiet reminder of the resilience of the human spirit

To partially quote George H.W. Bush, there are “a thousand points of light” when it comes to what we can do to remember and honor those we lost.

For instance, Joe Daniels, president and CEO for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, urges us via his website to take action: “There are numerous ways to participate in the annual commemoration and one of the most powerful is performing acts of service in your communities in remembrance of the victims of 9/11. When you choose to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, you are playing an important part in memorializing those who were killed, honoring the sacrifices of the first responders, and remembering the spirit of unity that emerged in the aftermath of 9/11.”

In addition to acts of service, Daniels mentions the Tribute in Light (more info is at http://bit.ly/1LmG7rn) when the 9/11 Memorial plaza will be open to the public for a special viewing of dual lights that illuminate the New York City night sky. He even suggests social media postings to remind people of the day’s significance.

Another organization, MyGoodDeed, a nonprofit that has created and annually organizes the “September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance” (9/11 Day) has enlisted what it calls “a new group of energized ambassadors to encourage Americans to observe 9/11 through charitable service: children who were born on the day of the tragedy.”

The group says that 13,238 children were born in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, citing the Division of Vital Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics.

“Nearly a quarter of all Americans today are under age 18, and most have no or very limited memories of the attacks and their immediate aftermath,” says David Paine, co-founder and president of MyGoodDeed, says in a statement. “If we truly want to keep our promise to ‘never forget’ the victims and heroes of 9/11, we need to begin passing the torch to this new generation of Americans, inspiring young people to pay tribute through good deeds.”

Paine co-founded 9/11 Day in 2002 with friend Jay Winuk, a 9/11 family member who lost his brother, attorney Glenn J. Winuk, a volunteer firefighter and EMT who died in the line of duty during the terrorist attacks, according to the group’s press release.

For this year, the 9/11 Day organizers have launched “Born on 9/11,” described as “an integrated, national multi-media campaign, created pro bono by Grey New York to promote the 9/11 Day observance for 2015.”

The campaign includes a television public service announcement (PSA) that features Hillary O’Neill, from Norwalk, CT, who was born on Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, the New York Stock Exchange will have Hillary and seven other “Born on 9/11” children, along with 9/11 Day co-founders Paine and Winuk ring the NYSE Opening Bell.

To help educate people, 9/11 Day’s supporters have put together lesson plans “to help parents and teachers explain 9/11 to children in non-threatening ways and involve them in 9/11 Day,” according to the organizers. There are nine different age-appropriate lesson plans along with videos, photos and teaching guides. “These materials, created in collaboration with Scholastic, are available free of charge at the 9/11 Day website, 911day.org, and at http://scholastic.com/911day,” according to the 9/11 Day organizers.

“As many as 40,000 classrooms nationwide are expected to use these materials this year, reaching more than one million students,” according to the 9/11 Day organizers. “The lesson plan program is funded in part through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees federal support for the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.”

The 9/11 Day organizers will co-host volunteer service projects on September 10 and 11 in New York City; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Boston; Philadelphia and Dallas. There will also be service projects by related organizations and national partners.

For its part, the CME Group, the parent company for key derivatives marketplaces, has announced that on Friday, September 11, the NYMEX and COMEX trading floors will observe moments of silence to honor the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

“Open outcry trading will cease for one minute on four occasions as follows: 8:46 a.m. ET and 9:03 a.m. ET, noting the times the airplanes crashed into each tower and at 9:59 a.m. ET and 10:29 a.m. ET, noting the times that each tower collapsed,” according to a CME Group notice.

There is not enough space in this column to mention all that is being done to honor those lost on 9/11. It’s encouraging that there are so many events.

For myself, I will stop today and think of all those whose lives were lost and of those whom I knew personally. I will think about how fast 14 years has passed. Then I will remember the good and crazy moments as if they were just yesterday. I will treasure those moments and my friends who are lost forever from this life.