Weekly Report from Mayor John L. Madden

This week, I am suspending my “government to corporation” analogy to honor those who were lost on September 11, 2001.  Today marks the 19th anniversary of that dark day in American history when both the brave and the innocent were murdered by horrific acts of terrorism.

Hundreds of firefighters, almost two dozen police officers, and thousands of innocent men, women and children lost their lives when two planes were purposefully crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City.  Hundreds of additional lives were lost when a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.  And we will never forget the acts of tremendous heroism when brave passengers from New Jersey forced a fourth plane to crash into a farm field in Pennsylvania that was targeted to hit the Capital.

We lost one of our own that day. Tom Gorman, a 41-year-old NYNJ Port Authority Police Officer was killed while attempting to rescue the victims trapped in the World Trade Center. He left behind a wife and three children.  He was a true hero.

All of us who were alive that day know exactly where we were when we heard the news of the first plane slamming into the North Tower.  The realization that this was terrorism hit us all when the second plane penetrated the South Tower.  The idea that any person, group or nation could intentionally cause such death, destruction and fear to Americans was foreign to most of us until that day.  We now have a generation that has grown up knowing that there are those who wish to do us harm.

Following the days of bewilderment, sadness and anger over the murderous acts that occurred on 9-11, Americans rose up in a tremendous sense of patriotism.  American flags became a commodity – hard to find like CoVid’s scarcity of bleach and toilet paper.  Newspapers were printing American flags on their back pages so that people could tape them to their windows.  Entire streets were festooned in red, white, and blue.  Flags hung from cranes, on window boxes, poles, bridges, overpasses, everywhere one looked at for months.  Following these heinous criminal acts, Americans were united in those three colors and a symbol of freedom and spirit.

While September 11th has become an annual day to remember the events of that day, America itself has been splintering politically for years.  The division between political parties, the fighting in Congress, and the nastiness during election cycles has become more apparent every year.  On September 11th we remember that we are all Americans; that we are a united people who believe in freedom; that our country, with all its problems and issues, is still the greatest on this planet.  And we know that, together, we can overcome any adversary with conviction, resolve and the resiliency.

Stay safe,

John L. Madden