Local officials and other community members gathered at the town’s World Trade Center Memorial Park in Calverton this morning for a prayer ceremony honoring those who lost their lives in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Town Clerk James Wooten read a brief chronology of the horrific events of that September morning, from the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. through the downing of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m.
“In the space of 90 minutes on that beautiful September day, the entire world changed,” Wooten said. “Two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six people lost their lives, all going about their day not knowing what would befall them,” Wooten recalled. “We lost 2,763 in New York City alone, including 343 firefighters, 23 police officers and 37 Port Authority officers. We lost 189 in Washington, D.C. at the Pentagon, and we lost 44 in the fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania,” he said.
“In the days it followed was shock, anger, disbelief, finger-pointing, hysteria and the solidarity of the American people rarely seen in a lifetime,” Wooten said. “There was a shortage of American flags of any type, and a common pride and mobilization of support groups and charity fundraisers to do what we could to relieve the pain and the loss of our fellow Americans.”
The World Trade Center Memorial Park symbolizes “the resilience, our gratitude and our memory for what happened that day, a place where we can come and reflect and pray, meditate and remember —not only the tragedy, but who we are as a nation and what freedom means,” Wooten said.
MORE COVERAGE: ‘A place for reflection’: World Trade Center memorial in Calverton grew out of one man’s vision in the months following terror attacks
The memorial park, located at the corner of Edwards and Riley avenues, was the creation of Hal Lindstrom of Calverton, who conceived and designed the space and spearheaded a fundraising campaign to cover the cost of its construction. Riverhead Town workers in the building and grounds division did most of the construction work and continue to maintain the park for community use.
Supervisor Tim Hubbard asked those in attendance to think back to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and remember where they were when they heard the news on that day that “forever changed the lives of the American people.”
“If you can say there was a positive thing to come out of this, which is very hard to imagine, it was the unity that this country felt in the hours and days after the attack, and we all watched the smoldering buildings for days and weeks in New York City on TV,” Hubbard said.
“The unity that the country felt. It didn’t matter whether you were black, white, yellow, pink, green. Didn’t matter whether what your religion was, what your sexual preference was, we were a united country of one and a strong united country of one,” he said.
Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard speaks at a service Sept. 11, 2024 at the World Trade Center Memorial Park in Calverton, as Hal Lindstrom, who conceived and designed the park, and County Legislator Catherine Stark listen. RiverheadLOCAL/ Denise Civiletti
“Memories tend to fade sometimes,” Hubbard said. “9-11 will never fade from us, but that memory of unity has started to fade. And I ask you today, when you leave here, when you leave this service today, go and talk to somebody and remind them of how we felt after this happened and how this country was,” Hubbard said.
“It’s so important that we get back to that level. We’ve been divided through many factions over the years, and it’s time to get back together and think as one, and remember that feeling we had, because this tragedy brought us all together, and it made us a stronger people, and we need to be stronger people now,” Hubbard said. “God bless you all, and God bless America.”
Lindstrom spoke next and paid homage to the NYC firefighters who entered burning buildings in the hope of saving people trapped within, including the 343 firefighters who would never return. He read a verse from Psalm 26.
“Sept. 11 was a normal day, getting up, getting our kids to school, going to work and hearing of this tragedy,” Assembly Member Jodi Giglio said.
Watching video of the commercial jetliners striking the towers, even all these years later, brings tears to our eyes, she said.
“I think that it’s important that we as a nation come together and remember Sept. 12,” Giglio said. “Remember Sept. 12, when our flags were flying and when people were coming together —echoing what our supervisor said — and that we came together as a nation and as a people, one nation, under God.” Giglio said.
“I would love to stop the division in our country, in our town, in politics and recognize people for who they are, and we are all Americans,” she said.
Giglio thanked Lindstrom and members of the committee he put together, as well as the buildings and grounds workers who built the memorial park and maintain it. “Every time I drive by, it’s a constant reminder of what happened that day,” Giglio said.
Wooten closed out the ceremony with a prayer.
Another memorial service will take place this evening at the Sept. 11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue and Park Road/Lt. Thomas R. Kelly Drive in Riverhead. It will begin with a solemn candlelight walk down Park Road/Lt. Thomas R. Kelly, which will begin at 6 p.m. at Marine Street and conclude with a service at the park.
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Publish date : 2024-09-11 09:20:00
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