Have we forgotten?

DURHAM―On September 11, 2001, our nation stood united in shock and grievous disbelief.

The events of 9/11 are forever etched in the minds of anyone old enough to remember the day. But for an estimated 100 million young Americans, the terrorist attacks are not a memory. A quarter-century later, they are history.

Solemn ceremonies, held Friday across the country, brought communities, public officials, first responders, and veterans together, along with 9/11 survivors and victim’s loved ones. The message, though conveyed through different words and stories, was universal: never forget.

Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminksy, one of the speakers at the 9/11 memorial service at the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural Centre in East Durham and at the county’s Emergency First Responders Memorial Monument Dedication Ceremony in Cairo, was working as a State Police investigator at the South Cairo barracks that fateful day.

“We got a call from a house in Jewett where a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, Jeremy Glick, was on the phone with his pregnant wife saying that terrorists had also taken over their plane,” recalled Kusminsky.

Glick was already aware that two other planes had been flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers and another struck the Pentagon.

“Just before he hung up, Jeremy told his wife that they were going to rush the hijackers,” Kusminsky said.

Flight 93, with 33 passengers and seven crew members, crashed minutes later in a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field.

“We raced up to the house but in the 20 minutes or so it took us to get up there his phone was dead. Shortly afterward we were notified that the plane had crashed,” Kusminsky said. “I will never forget the looks on the faces of that family.”

A road in Jewett is named in tribute to Glick who was also honored with a flag raising and dedication Friday evening at the Greene County Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention in Ashland.

“Jeremy chose to fight to protect others knowing that was the last thing he would ever do,” said Kusminsky.

State Police members in Catskill volunteered to go to Ground Zero following the attacks and a few weeks later Kusminsky was deployed to New York City.

“What I saw there was overwhelming,” he said. “The pile of rubble was still smoldering in the background. There were all types of people working together, helping each other.”

In the weeks and months following the attack, tens of thousands of recovery workers, police officers, firefighters, and volunteers from across the country rotated through Ground Zero.

“The feeling of being united was never so strong,” Kusminsky said. “We were all one people working for the common good.”

But why, he asked, did it take such a horrific act to bring the country together, noting the partisan chasm separating Americans today and urging people to stop the rhetoric and infighting.

“They say 9/11 was our worst day and September 12 was our best day,” Kusminsky said. “There were American flags on every house, on every street, on every overpass―they were everywhere.”

“Has it been too long since we were threatened? Has it been too long since we have been hurt? Has it been too long since we felt the patriotism that got us through that terrible time? Apparently it has only taken 25 years for some of us to forget,” he said.

September 11, 2001, was the deadliest day on American soil since Pearl Harbor. The initial attacks by Al-Qaeda jihadists left 2,977 people dead.

A 2-year-old girl on Flight 175 that hit the south tower died with her parents on their way to Disneyland. An 85-year-old man on Flight 11, flown into the north tower, died alongside his wife on their way to her son’s wedding. Three 11-year-olds on Flight 77 that struck the Pentagon were taking a school trip. Nearly 3,000 children lost a parent.

Four hundred and twelve first responders were killed in the line of duty that day. And over the last 25 years, more than 9,400 post-9/11 deaths have been attributed to toxic chemical exposure at Ground Zero.

“We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to tell them what really happened on that terrible day, who did it, and why,” said Kusminsky.