Did We Forget 9/11?
My wife and I were up in the World Trade Center a few days before the Millennium. We saw the wait people setting up for lunch at the Windows on the World restaurant. We bought Nathan’s hot dogs from the guy behind the counter. We bought trinkets from the ladies in the souvenir shop. We spoke to the men running the elevators.
After 9/11, everyone spoke of the stock brokers and other big shots who were killed. But we remembered the “ordinary people” who died. They seemed to be missed only by their families and friends. No, they were missed by us also.
Some people talked about the 343 FDNY firefighters who were killed, but not anything personal. The tour director we knew told us about the guys of Ladder Company 3, with whom he had coffee every morning. They were almost wiped out.
Here we see Firefighter Mike Kehoe, going up the stairs when everyone else was going down. From his expression, I would guess that he did not expect to survive, but he went up anyhow. He did survive, unlike 343 of his mates. No, Mike, we won’t forget.
And no, Mr. Mamdani, we haven’t forgotten. I’m sorry about your aunt being glared at because of her hijab, if your story is true. But I’m a lot sorrier about the 3000 Americans, Brits, and others who were killed. The exact number is uncertain, you know. Many unidentified body parts remained.
