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The world must never forget

Opinion

by Michael Smerconish -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. And three months later, we will mark the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The two worst attacks on American soil each resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths and led the nation to war. Still, given the passage of time, Dec. 7 will be noted with minimal, if any, reverence by most Americans, and, despite little more than a decade having lapsed since 9/11, already some memories are fading too fast.

How else to explain a New York Post story last week detailing how some visitors are treating the National September 11 Memorial in Manhattan as a “playground.” The Post reported that “tourists balance coffee cups and soda bottles on the parapets bearing the names of the dead. Parents hoist their children to sit on the bronze plaques, while other visitors splash water from the two waterfalls onto their faces to cool themselves on a hot summer day. On the plaza, tourists break out lunch foods and lie on their backs.”

That behavior is appalling. Those who would picnic in a graveyard disrespect not only the lives that were lost on that sacred ground, but also those soldiers still in harm's way as a result of the events that gave rise to that memorial. But such behavior is in keeping with a pattern.

Despite the best of intentions, too often we do forget too soon.

April 19 marked the 17th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, the day on which 168 innocents lost their lives, including 19 young children.

One day later, April 20, was the 13th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings, in which 12 students and one teacher were murdered by two students who then killed themselves.

In Philadelphia, May 13 marked the 27th anniversary of the MOVE conflagration that claimed the lives of 11 people, five of them children.

Ever heard of Harold Unruh? Wednesday was the 63rd anniversary of the day Unruh murdered 13 of his neighbors in Camden, N.J.

And come Nov. 22, the nation will mark the 49th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Each of these was a monumental day based on tragedy, but for how many of them do we now pause? All were events that were “the” news for a period of months, and, in every instance, there was grieving accompanied by the refrain of “never forget.” But life does go on. And when witnesses and loved ones of the victims die and memories fade, the challenge of remembering grows more difficult.

Ensuring that Sept. 11 stands apart will require community and individual action.

Today, 9/11 should be part of every school's lesson plan.

Employers should find a way of noting the occasion, in keeping with the decorum of the workplace.

Flags should, of course, be flown at half-staff.

And the media must keep showing the harrowing footage of the airplanes hitting the Twin Towers. More than anything else, if that presentation were shown with more regularity — beyond just the anniversary newsreels — it would go a long way toward keeping us ever mindful of what transpired 11 years ago.

Most important, at dinner tables across America, tonight needs to be a time for parents to share with their children the perspective of where they were 11 years ago, what happened to the nation and with what consequence.

We won't forget. But unless we take these measures and more, those who follow us will.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2012/09/11/the-world-must-never-forget.html

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For Sept. 11 anniversary, a turning point passed?

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Is it time for a different kind of Sept. 11?

Victims' families and others were poised to gather and grieve Tuesday at ground zero, the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pa., for the first time after the emotional turning point of last year's 10th anniversary.

And in New York, there was a sense that it was a season of change and moving forward for the ground zero ceremony. It followed a last-minute breakthrough on a financial dispute that had halted progress on the Sept. 11 museum, and the commemoration itself was to be different: For the first time, elected officials won't speak at an occasion that has allowed them a solemn turn in the spotlight, but also has been lined with questions about separating the Sept. 11 that is about personal loss from the 9/11 that reverberates through public life.

To Charles G. Wolf, it's a fitting transition.

"We've gone past that deep, collective public grief," says Wolf, whose wife, Katherine, was killed at the trade center. "And the fact that the politicians will not be involved, to me, makes it more intimate, for the families. ... That's the way that it can be now."

Political leaders still are welcome to attend the ground zero ceremony, and they are expected at the other commemorations, as well.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama plan to attend the Pentagon ceremony and visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar are expected to speak at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, at the site where the hijacked United Airlines plane went down.

Officeholders from the mayor to presidents have been heard at the New York ceremony, reading texts ranging from parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address to poems by John Donne and Langston Hughes.

For former New York Gov. George Pataki, this year's change ends a 10-year experience that was deeply personal, even as it reflected his political role. He was governor at the time of the attacks.

"As the names are read out, I just listen and have great memories of people who I knew very well who were on that list of names. It was very emotional," Pataki reflected by phone last week. Among his friends who were killed was Neil Levin, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

But Pataki supports the decision not to have government figures speak.

"It's time to take the next step, which is simply to continue to pay tribute," Pataki said.

The National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum — led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as its board chairman — announced in July that this year's ceremony would include only relatives reading victims' names.

The point, memorial President Joe Daniels said, was "honoring the victims and their families in a way free of politics" in an election year.

Some victims' relatives and commentators praised the decision. "It is time" to extricate Sept. 11 from politics, the Boston Globe wrote in an editorial.

But others said keeping politicians off the rostrum smacked of ... politics.

The move came amid friction between the memorial foundation and the governors of New York and New Jersey over financing for the museum — friction that abruptly subsided Monday, when Bloomberg and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an agreement that paves the way for finishing the $700 million project "as soon as practicable."

Before the deal, Cuomo, a Democrat, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, had signaled their displeasure by calling on federal officials to give the memorial a financial and technical hand. Some victims' relatives saw the no-politicians anniversary ceremony as retaliation.

"Banning the governors of New York and New Jersey from speaking is the ultimate political decision," said one relatives' group, led by retired Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches. His firefighter son and namesake was killed responding to the burning World Trade Center.

Spokesmen for Christie and Cuomo said the governors were fine with the memorial organizers' decision.

Of course, it's difficult to remember 9/11 without remembering its impact on the nation's political narrative.

After all, "9/11 has defined politics in America" since 2001, said Costas Panagopoulos, a Fordham University political science professor. "At the end of the day, 9/11 was a public tragedy that affected the nation as a whole."

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP10ed4867b6904440b1e653bb56ba0b2f.html

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Dramatic video footage shows Wade Michael Page firing on police during Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin

White supremacist repeatedly fired at Lt. Brian Murphy after he had fallen behind a parked car, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the throat.

by Stephen Rex Brown (Video on site)

Dramatic video footage captured the moment white supremacist Wade Michael Page began firing on police as they arrived at the scene of his hate-filled horror in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin last month.

In the videos, recorded on cameras mounted on dashboards of police cars and released on Monday by the Oak Creek Police Department, the gunman repeatedly fired at Lt. Brian Murphy after he had fallen behind a parked car, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the throat.

Page stalked the officer, shooting him in the thumb and knocking away his gun. Page hit him a total of 15 times with his .9-mm.

“There's a deliberateness about him,” Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said of Page. “He intended to kill him.”

Murphy survived but can only speak in a whisper and faces a long recovery.

Separate footage from officer Sam Lenda's squad car depicts a second barrage of bullets.

“I got a man with a gun in the parking lot,” Lenda radios a dispatcher.

After Lenda took cover behind his car door, a bullet pierced the steering wheel and headrest, the cop said in a briefing Monday.

In the footage, Lenda could be heard repeatedly screaming: “Drop the gun!” and begins shooting at the suspect with an AR-15 assault rifle from about 50 yards away.

Page is seen buckling in the distance as a bullet slams into his gut.

The final wound the killer suffered is the one Page put in his own head. He killed six and wounded four, including Murphy, in the Aug. 5 massacre.

The racist gunman's motive remains a mystery, and the Associated Press reported that it could be weeks or months before the FBI concludes its investigation.

“He had to be stopped and that's why I decided to shoot,” Lenda said Monday. “I'm just an officer who did my job.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dramatic-video-footage-shows-wade-michael-page-firing-police-sikh-temple-shooting-wisconsin-article-1.1156480

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Pennsylvania

Tredyffrin police offer a behind-the-scenes look

by BRENT GLASGOW

TREDYFFRIN — For most people, interaction with police means being stopped for a traffic violation.

With its upcoming citizen's police academy, township police want to give residents a different type of experience by providing them a behind-the-scenes look at how they protect and serve.

“Our bottom-line goal is we want citizens to feel comfortable with who we are and to know us,” township Police Superintendent Anthony Giaimo said. “We know police often get painted with a broad brush, and we want them to know we're open and we're here for them.

“We are going to be honest with them, and they'll see this is not a canned program.”

Starting Sept. 27, the academy will meet from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Thursday night for 12 weeks. The program is designed to increase the understanding between officers and citizens through open dialogue and training.

The program will focus on a different element each week, including:

• patrol procedures, officer safety and vehicle stops; • DUI investigations; • domestic violence and constitution; • personal safety; • CPR/AED certification; • a Berwyn Fire Company tour and demonstration; • criminal investigation and crime scenes; • special weapons and tactics; • discussion of community programs, town watch and police association; • a 911 center tour; and • traffic squad and accident investigations.

“One is no more or no less important than the other,” said Larry Meoli, director of community policing and the organizer of the academy. “Every single part was put on the schedule because of how important it is for the officers. We pretty much cover everything we do.”

Participants will have the opportunity to do multiple ride-alongs with officers, to give them an even more thorough look at what life on patrol is like.

The program, which is in its 13th year, has evolved since its inception based on post-graduation feedback from participants.

“It has changed every year,” Meoli said. “They are very good at helping us see things that we can do better.”

The academy has close to 300 alumni, with some repeat enrollees. Many graduates want to know what they can do to help after the program is over.

“We have had quite a few sign up for our volunteer town watch program, a group of people we empower to go out and be the eyes and ears of the police department,” Meoli said. “They can scope things in their community that look out of place, and they can share that information with us. They also put information out to the community for us.

“It is a very positive thing, and it gives us a very solid support base, so that if there was ever a need to tap into the community for help, they are there.”

Township residents interested in participating in the academy should call Meoli at 610-408-3654.

http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/09/10/main_line_suburban_life/news/doc504eaba941b6b918580494.txt?viewmode=fullstory

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New Jersey

Popular Senior Police Academy Returns in October

Senior citizens can learn about defensive driving, fire safety, crime prevention and how to be a neighborhood watchdog at monthlong event.

by Daniel Hubbard

The Wayne Police Department will host its annual Senior Police Academy on Tuesday in October.

The free program is designed to enlighten senior citizens in the community and improve their quality of life.

Community Policing Officers Tom Colella and Scott Rappaport will discuss several topics, including: how to be a neighborhood watchdog, traffic and pedestrian safety, defensive driving, fire safety, crime prevention, how to prevent fraud, alcoholism, gambling, and self-defense.

Attendees will also visit the Passaic County Police Academy.

The academy is co-sponsored by Chilton Hospital, the Wayne Police Department, and the Wayne Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse.

Classes are offered on Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the public library.

For more information, or to register, call 973-831-5367.

http://wayne.patch.com/articles/popular-senior-police-academy-returns-in-october