Tuesday, September 11, 2007

9/11 ... thank you, NYPD

In Memory and in Gratitude to New York City's Finest

On September 11, 2001, the New York City Police Department lost more officers in a single day than in any year previously. Twenty-three officers died in the smoldering collapse of the World Trade Center ... died saving thousands of people from a burning inferno. Their sacrifice is not forgotten.

This one's for you, Yankee Phillip....

The 23 NYPD officers lost on 9/11:

JOHN G COUGHLIN, Sergeant
MICHAEL CURTIN, Sergeant
JOHN D'ALLARA, Police Officer
VINCENT G DANZ, Police Officer
JEROME M DOMINGUEZ, Police Officer
STEPHEN P DRISCOLL, Police Officer
MARK ELLIS, Police Officer
ROBERT FAZIO, Police Officer
RODNEY C GILLIS, Sergeant
RONALD KLOEPFER, Police Officer
THOMAS LANGONE, Police Officer
JAMES LEAHY, Police Officer
BRIAN G McDONNELL, Police Officer
JOHN WILLIAM PERRY, Police Officer
GLEN PETTIT, Police Officer
CLAUDE RICHARDS, Detective
TIMOTHY ROY, Sergeant
MOIRA SMITH, Police Officer
RAMON SUAREZ, Police Officer
PAUL TALTY, Police Officer
SANTOS VALENTIN Jr, Police Officer
JOSEPH VINCENT VIGIANO, Detective
WALTER WEAVER, Police Officer

We will not forget.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank You Lynn. I was just remembering where I was 6 years ago. I was almost at ground zero at 11 AM. We entered a gray cloud as we came out of the tunnel.Couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you. Worst day since Pearl Harbor. It is hard to believe that people forget.

Lynn R. Mitchell said...

And, like Pearl Harbor, most of us remember where we were, what we were doing -- hour by hour throughout the day.

I was in Colonial Williamsburg with my family on vacation. One of the interpreters told us about the attack on the Twin Towers as we waited to hear "Patrick Henry" speak....

"Give me liberty or give me death" never meant more than on that day.

My sister was working at the White House so I immediately called my mom in Richmond to see if she had heard from my sister ... she had called and was okay (her cell phone was still routing through Austin while others in the D.C. area were jammed).

Warned about the approaching Flight 93, the Secret Service had begun evacuating the White House and Old Executive Office Building, orderly at first, but then they began to yell to run as fast as they could away from the building. Women took off their high heels and ran in stocking feet.... It took her hours to get home.

The terror of not knowing who or what would be hit next was very real ... and the memory of that can reduce me to tears in a heartbeat. I could have lost my sister that day except for the bravery of the heroes of Flight 93....

I cannot even imagine how much it impacted you since you were in the middle of it all ... the sights, the smells, the sounds of tragedy as a Nation came under attack at Ground Zero.

My hat is off to you and all those who work to keep us safe and free. Thanks, Phil.