As the night sky fell on Memorial Park last Thursday, Mineola residents and officials paused to remember the almost 3,000 lives that were lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Mayor Scott Strauss, a former NYPD EMS worker and 9/11 first responder, was one of the many who rushed into Manhattan after the attacks, searching the rubble for survivors. He was part of the rescue effort that saved the lives of Port Authority Police officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin.
“Our first responders continue to put themselves in harms way for our safety,” he said. “They continue to train and are prepared to take on whatever they are called upon to do in our communities.”
Senator Jack Martins, a regular citizen at the time, was headed to work on that Tuesday 13 years ago. He received a phone call urging him to get to a TV.
“Emergency responders who went and did their jobs, a job many of us take for granted, went running into a dangerous situation,” he said. “I remember how this country came together in ways that I had never seen and in ways I wish we still had today.”
Pastor Chet Easton of the First Presbyterian Church, told the audience that people have come together because of the tragedy and have remained steadfast in unity.
“Whether we lived through the events of 13 years ago or whether we have since come into the world and have been taught about it, we know that the tragedy of Sept. 11th, 2001 brought this unity in the world,” he said.
Mosignor Robert Batule of Corpus Christi Church reminded attendees of the plight terrorism has brought the world over and to strive to be a Good Samaritan.
“Throughout this day and evening, all over our country, we have marked the horrendous tragedy of 9/11,” said Batule. “Even with the passage of time, we still turn to [God], our shelter from the stormy blast. Console us and heal us from the pain that still sears our memories.”
The events of 9/11 brought on a unified front, Strauss felt.
“That day 13 years ago was a day that forever changed our way of life,” Strauss said. “A day when a vicious and cowardly attack brought us together as one nation, united on all fronts. It unleashed a sense of patriotism our country had not seen since a bright sunny morning in December of 1941.”
Strauss, who lost 14 friends in the attacks, said it will always be a tough day.
“You’d think the emotions would subside, but they don’t,” he said. “For some reason, they just get a little tougher. We hope and pray that the families are OK and doing well.”
