One Nation...with Liberty and Justice for All

The day after we visited the site of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, we returned to New York City and visited two sites that remind us that millions around the world love the United States and have wanted to come here. We took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

As we waited for the ferry, this man played music for us.



We could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.



As we crossed the water, we saw numerous water taxis, as well as the Staten Island Ferry.



There were lots of other boats in the Hudson River, as well. This is one of the sail boats.



Another sail boat was seen against a fire boat's spray.



And we could look back at the beautiful New York skyline and Battery Park.



We had visited Lady Liberty years ago. Since we were too late to get tickets to go into the Crown, we didn't get off at the statue. Instead, we continued to Ellis Island, where immigrants were processed from 1892 to 1954. In those years the majority of the 12 million people moving to the US from around world came through Ellis Island. Two of John's grandparents were among those millions.

This is a tower on the main building.



After the immigrants came into the building, they piled their luggage in this room, then went up the steps and were examined by physicians to determine if they were healthy. Those who were ill were taken to a hospital on the island. Here most recovered with bed rest and good food. Apparently the hospital was really state of the art for that time. No more than 2 percent of the immigrants were sent back because of ill health or other reasons.



There were many, many people visiting the island. And it wasn't even really summer yet.



I tried to go on a ranger tour to learn more.



There was so much noise and confusion I could only hear about half of what the ranger was saying, so I gave up. We did read and study the displays inside. The high-ceilinged rooms echoed from all the voices. It was hard to concentrate. But some days up to 5,000 immigrants passed through these rooms. They must have been even more confused, and frightened.

We had to wait in line to board the ferry back to Battery Park on Manhattan. This is the crowd ahead of us. It included two groups of school children, one group probably fifth graders, the other middle school students.



One of my grandfathers came to the US in 1873 and one grandmother came about 1876. Both of these people would have been processed through Castle Garden, one of four old forts built to protect New York City from attack by the British during the War of 1812. The State of New York turned Castle Garden into an immigrant station, which processed 8 million newcomers from 1855 to 1890. According to the National Park Service, one in six Americans today is descended from a person entering here. I am one of those people. Now called Castle Clinton, today it serves as the ticket center for the ferry trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands.



I couldn't get over the contrast between the World Trade Center attacks, spearheaded by people who hate America, and the symbolism of Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. The Twin Towers were easily visible from the two islands in the Hudson. At least 17 million people who sought a new life in this country came right through here, using their own resources and enduring great hardship in the ocean crossing for that chance at something better. The Statue of Liberty was envisioned and paid for by French citizens who wanted to honor the ideals of freedom and liberty they saw in our country. The words of a poem written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus are inscribed at the base of the statue, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." May our country always stand for freedom and may Lady Liberty's torch burn as a symbol of that freedom.

Ground Zero

Do you remember where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001? I'll bet you do. I remember that I was in our RV in Staunton, VA. I was talking on the phone to our son Eric when he said, "Oh my God, someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." I fumbled with the remotes until I got our TV turned on to watch for myself. A day later we cut short our travels and drove West to Colorado. It just didn't feel right to be traveling

During our time in New York City we revisited many of those images when we visited the Tribute WTC gallery and took a tour around the perimeter of the construction site on Ground Zero.



The gallery included a film about the attacks on our country that day, as well as a time line of events and displays of quotation and artifacts from the site, including this NYC Fire Department uniform that was worn by one of the firefighters who died.



this is a melted girder from the World Trade Center.



This is a window from one of the airplanes that hit the buildings.



This image still gives me the shivers.



This piece of metal is two handguns that melted together. They were in the evidence locker in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that was housed in the WTC.



The rescue response was rapid and massive, as this quote shows.



These oragami doves are part of the millions that were sent from all over the world as a token of love and concern.



But the most moving part of the day was the person to person history shared by our tour guide, Ann. Each tour guide was somehow directly affected by the terrorism. Ann's husband was a New York fireman who died in the collapse of one of the towers.


This is a view of the New York skyline as seen from a building that sits between the Trade Center Buildings and the Hudson River. We are looking though a window that was shattered in the explosion and you can see some of the many construction cranes at work.





We learned that construction on the buildings around the memorial site will be shut down for one week in September 2011 for the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The reflection pool memorial will be open to the public that week, then closed because of ongoing construction of the buildings that make it unsafe for visitors.

We were both in tears by the end of our Person to Person History tour. Ann thanked us for coming and for remembering what happened that day. She said she wanted to end on a more upbeat note, telling us there are lots of fun things to do during our visit to NYC. "This isn't one of them," she said. It wasn't fun. But is was very moving. Neither of us will ever forget that day, and we must not. It was a defining moment in our nation's history and shapes our future. It was important to refresh our memories of what happened.

This quartz crystal is part of a memorial to the 11 American Express Travel Center workers killed in the attacks. It is a mineral that is found on all parts of our world and symbolizes the fact that people from all over the world were killed there. You can see the construction site reflected in the pool.



During the long period of rescue and recovery work at Ground Zero, a small Episcopal chapel, St. Paul's, down the street was a haven for rescue workers and family. We visited there after our tour of the construction site. Here are a few scenes from the church. One of the pictures is of a priest celebrating Mass wearing a red chasuble covered with patches from police and fire departments. Those patches were given to the clergy by many of the first responders from all over the country in recognition of their gratitude for the care they received.









In the plaza that was at the center of the World Trade Center complex there was a globe, symbolizing the trade from all over the world that came together there. When that bronze statue was uncovered it was found to be badly damaged. The statue was moved to Battery Park and put on display. It sits on a piece of landfill on the Hudson River created with dirt that had been removed to build the WTC. The statue is still there, with an eternal flame at its side.