Forgetting The Unforgettable

To the Editor:

Since September 11, 2001, I have kept in touch with two of the firehouses in Manhattan that experienced some of the highest death tolls per firehouse, during the rescue mission at the World Trade Center. Rescue Company 1 lost 11 men from their house, and Engine Company 54 lost 15 from their house.

Having lived in New York City for 15 years in that neighborhood, I decided I would stop by these firehouses whenever I was in the city to simply offer my condolences and support, and serve as a reminder that “We haven’t forgotten you, and we are still grateful for your sacrifice.”  On each trip into the city I would make a short visit to each firehouse.

As part of my volunteering with the Red Cross at the World Trade Center immediately following this attack, I contacted the local schools of my town and invited them to have their students write letters of condolence and support to the surviving firefighters. At that time I was living in Newtown, and Newtown Middle School responded most enthusiastically. Every few months they would call me to tell me they had a new stack of letters ready. I would periodically take stacks of “kid letters” down to each firehouse.

This gave me something new to bring each time I would stop by the firehouse. These letters brought a smile to the face of the firefighter whose arms they were placed into, and a resounding, “Thank You!” from every firefighter who was there to see the letters arrive. They knew they were remembered. And they appreciated it.

This year, coming up on what is only the second anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I once again called my local schools to invite their students to write letters of support and remembrance. I now live in Monroe, so I called three public schools and one private religious school in Monroe.

The result? Not one school responded. Not one.

This year I made my condolence call again, as I will each year. Only this year, I went carrying only one letter, my own.

“Never forget.”  Are you sure? Are you sure this isn’t only a lot of self-serving hot air to make you feel better about the fact that you already have?

Sincerely,

Tess Foley

211 Old Zoar Road, Monroe                                  September 22, 2003