Readers mourn lives lost on 9/11, 25 years later

Twenty-five years since the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, my heart is heavy thinking of all the people we lost that day — and continue to lose [“Long Islanders remember 9/11,” Opinion, Sept. 8].

That Tuesday, I was working in a school. One of the young teachers there would never see her husband again. I grieved for all the families and friends whose lives were forever changed.

Within days, I wrote little poems for seven families whom I personally knew who lost loved ones. It was a small gesture, one of many that others also did to help ease their immense pain. All of us came together as one nation united as we saw the enormous bravery of so many in the face of unfathomable danger. I pray we will once again be a united people, looking out for one another.

I also want to recognize the help that other nations offered us, especially Canada. Canadians were there for us as our neighbors and continue to be our friends. When bad things happen, Mister Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” This is the way we extend our loving kindness and build a better society. This is where courage lives. It was etched into our DNA on 9/11.

— Susan Scalone, Shoreham

On the afternoon of that terrible day, employees at Freeport’s busy Social Security office, where I worked, were discharged early. No one knew whether terrorists had larger-scale plans to destroy smaller government facilities.

Although the fear, confusion, and sadness of that day remain, I fondly remember our assistant manager walking desk to desk with tears streaming from her eyes, telling each of us what had happened and why we were being sent home.

On 9/12 and for several days afterward, I saw the aircraft carrier USS George Washington poised off Nassau County’s coast to provide air support if needed. I felt extremely sad but somehow proud, too, to be a government worker.

I’m even prouder that my son and many of his Seaford High School classmates enlisted in the military in the following years. We now remember the sacrifice of the 9/11 victims but also honor and thank all the brave men and women who willingly joined and continue to enlist in our country’s armed forces.

— William F. Stellwagen, Seaford

One morning a couple of weeks after 9/11, the overall mood in my office was mired in melancholy. One of my technologists summoned me because one of her patients was sobbing while undergoing a CT scan. Through tears, she informed me that she was a recent widow because her firefighter husband perished on 9/11 and she feared that her cancer had returned and her children would become orphans.

Fighting back my own tears, and against my better judgment, I told her to wait before returning home. I said I would read her study before she left and would personally tell her the results, something I rarely did. Would I have the capacity to give this woman potentially bad news on such a day?

As I nervously reviewed her study, I prayed for the wisdom to deal with the consequences. The outcome was pure joy for me, my technologist and especially this extraordinary woman. That day, as the three of us hugged each other through quiet sobbing, I was blessed to be able to tell her that she was cancer-free. With grace, each of us faced a new day, with hope.

— Dr. Joel Reiter, Woodbury

Witnessing bigotry decades after 9/11

The article on being Muslim on Long Island after 9/11 brought to mind a conversation I overheard shortly after last year’s election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani [“LI Muslims say they’re still on ‘hot seat,’ ” News, Sept. 3].

One man said, “Do you believe they elected a Muslim? Don’t they remember 9/11?” The other man readily agreed.

At the time, I simply shook my head and attributed this exchange to an isolated example of ignorance and bigotry. I regret that I didn’t say something.

Sadly, as the article revealed and as many of us have experienced, being cast as the “enemy” — because of our religious faith, immigration status, sexual orientation, skin color, or political orientation — is not unusual. As we witness daily, blaming others for whatever is wrong has become not only commonplace but an acceptable practice of some currently holding political power.

So, yes, we should always remember and commemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. But let’s not forget that ignorance and bigotry, left unchecked, also threaten each of us.

— Elizabeth Donlon, Floral Park