Ocean City, Upper Township, Somers Point among many commemorating response to terror attacks 20 years ago
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
For one day at least, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, put the unity back in community as neighbors, first-responders and elected officials gathered to mark the 20th anniversary of the worst attack on American soil.
The mood at multiple events around the region was of camaraderie, of pride in the way the country banded together physically, emotionally and spiritually in response to a direct attack on its seats of power in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Many Americans put aside their widening political divisions and turned their focus to the loss of nearly 3,000 people when Islamic extremists hijacked four airplanes, crashing two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, another into the Pentagon and a fourth that crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pa.
The collapse of the World Trade Center caused extensive damage, death and destruction, drawing rescue crews from up and down the East Coast and across the country to Ground Zero for assistance.
About 2,977 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 in Shanksville.
The New York City police and fire departments lost a combined 400 members, many who were risking their own lives to save those of others.
OCEAN CITY
A large crowd turned out to mark the anniversary in Ocean City, where Mayor Jay Gillian noted it was the 21st time the community had gathered to mark the event. He said in 2001, then-mayor Bud Knight invited the community to a prayer service at the Ocean City Tabernacle on the day of the attacks.
“The Ocean City community came together to mourn the loss of those who were killed and pay tribute to the brave men and women who risked their lives to save others on that day,” he said.
The mayor listed those who have spoken during the city’s event for the past 20 years.
“Hope has been a common theme for everybody who has stood at this podium,” Gillian said.
He recalled making a visit to the reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial.
“I felt the anger again for the attacks on so many innocent people. But I also remembered the sense of hope and community that followed as we pulled together to protect our freedom,” Gillian said. “9/11 was a horrible day in our history but it also is a reminder not to take our freedom for granted. In the aftermath, Americans threw away their differences and celebrated all the wonderful things that we share.”
Guest speaker Billio Olaschinez worked with members of the New York City Police Department and recalled with anguish the events of the day in Lower Manhattan.
“It’s been 20 years. I always say to myself, ‘It will get better.’ It never gets better,” the Upper Township resident said.
More than 400 police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers were killed in the attacks and immediate response. Olaschinez, who presented a flag from the rubble of the World Trade Center to the city, described what it was like at Ground Zero.
“Battered, torn and on fire,” he said, just like the framed flag he pointed to. Despite its condition, he said, the flag is intact, as is the strength of the American people.
Olaschinez said one of the officers with whom he was familiar was John Perry, who was set to retire the day of the attacks. Instead of turning in his paperwork and walking away, Perry put on his turnout gear and headed toward the chaos.
“Being the hero that he was, he said, ‘I’ll be back later to finish that.’ On the third trip out, he was carrying a disabled woman on his back and the building collapsed,” Olaschinez said. “Those are the heroes of Sept. 11.”
SOMERS POINT
In Somers Point, dozens of first responders, residents, dignitaries, military veterans and members of the Legion Riders gathered at Patriot’s Park to honor the victims and those who ran toward danger that day, in New York City and across the country.
Mayor Jack Glasser introduced the speakers, including police dispatcher Suzanne Redding who talked about her experience during 9/11 and the importance of those behind the scenes during an emergency.
Redding said working as a dispatcher is an intense, demanding and stressful job — in the best of times — that requires the ability to multitask, think quickly and accurately.
“The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was working at the Avalon Police Department and watching the news when the events of that dreadful morning unfolded. My first thought was what the 37 dispatchers in the New York City 911 center must be enduring with the inundation of hundreds and hundreds of 911 calls. The blood-curdling screams for help they were hearing, the panic, the chaos, the very last words of people trapped in the blazing Trade Center towers and the voices of the police officers, firefighters and EMTs that they dispatched into the mouth of hell, then eventually the eerie silence on the other end of the radio. I just can’t even imagine the absolute helplessness and nervous panic those dispatchers couldn’t help but feel,” Redding said.
Two days after the attacks, Avalon EMS sent three EMTs to Ground Zero to assist those on the scene. Redding said she was in contact with the EMTs every time they picked up a patient and transported him or her to a hospital. She would enter the person’s information into the computer system, “just as if it were a normal call for service in our town.”
“What a privilege to be behind the scenes offering assistance during one of the most catastrophic events to ever occur in the United States of America,” she said.
Speaker George McNally, a retired member of the FDNY from Staten Island who was on duty that fateful day, now lives in Somers Point and is chaplain of the American Legion post.
He talked about the necessity to protect freedom after the country “got sucker-punched by Islamic terrorists.”
“We were attacked because we love freedom. Freedom is not free. We cannot pass freedom down via the blood stream or via genes. It has to be fought for,” McNally told the crowd on a beautiful late-summer day.
UPPER TOWNSHIP
Osprey Point hosted the ceremony in Upper Township, where dozens of residents of the complex were joined by members of the community, police, fire and EMS personnel as well as Mayor Rich Palombo and other elected officials.
Speaking before the ceremony, Palombo noted he has been mayor since before the attacks and called sending local first responders to assist at Ground Zero was one of the most difficult decisions he has had to make.
“It was such a terrifying day, a day that we should never forget,” Palombo said, noting that the response showed “this country can rally and get together and really address a major issue.”
He commented on the sense of unity at the time.
“It was the one time that I can recall where it really didn’t matter if you were a Republican or a Democrat or an independent or whatever, everybody did what they had to do and there was major, major patriotism,” Palombo said.
He said by honoring the memory of those lost and the efforts of those who stepped up to the challenge helps keep that sense of patriotism alive.
Jay Newman, chief of the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company, was the keynote speaker.
He contrasted the feelings of unity and respect for first responders and the military at the time of the attacks with the national mood of today, which he characterized as unpatriotic.
“In the months that followed — always remember, never forget — firefighters, police officers, EMTs and first responders were the heroes of the nation. The military was held in high esteem. U.S. flags flew high from flagpoles and overpasses and anywhere you could find space.
“Chants of ‘USA! USA!’ would rise spontaneously at sporting events and no one kneeled. The military sprung into action and geared up to take the fight to the terrorists. Churches were full, people turned to God and prayed for the nation.”
Patriotism was high, he said.
“Now, police officers are scorned, firefighters are marginalized, EMTs are regulated beyond belief and first-responders everywhere are watching their back as people look to make a quick buck on a frivolous lawsuit. People have turned their back on God and some look upon believers with disdain.
“The military is embarrassed by a quick surrender to an enemy who we had defeated and our enemy is led by a terrorist who we had in custody,” Newman said. “Have we forgotten?”
He said the nation’s attitude has changed dramatically in the 20 years since.
“We continue to do our job despite the public scorn received. The flag is disrespected. Highly paid athletes kneel for the national anthem, of a country that brought them their wealth. Our history is revised in some convoluted way and people with different opinions are canceled or silenced. Our youths live on social media and require instant gratification,” Newman said.
The solution? Newman asked — God and country.
“Where do we go from here? That’s easy. First we need to turn back to God as a nation,” he said, citing John 16:33 and Matthew 6:34.
“We need to turn to solid U.S. principles and Judeo-Christian values that made this the greatest nation the Earth has ever known, and of course we need to support our first-responders everywhere,” he said.