Editorial

The acts of evil, and of heroism, must not be forgotten

Posted

Five thousand, one hundred twelve days have passed since Sept. 11, 2001.

People who are 21 now were only 7 then; students who will graduate from high school this school year were 3 or 4. They cannot know how life was different before the attacks, but we should keep teaching about what happened, and what happened afterward.

The sense of well-being of a nation was changed that awful, dark day that had begun so magnificently bright and mild. A thick haze of insecurity and anxiety gripped us — and grips us still — as on that day the sickening cloud of toxic debris eclipsed the brilliantly clear sky.

So many lives changed that day and in all the days since. Thousands of lives ended brutally. The lives of tens of thousands of loved ones changed cruelly from the loss. And countless other people’s lives took unexpected turns, with many joining the military, or fire or law enforcement services.

Those who first responded to the epic catastrophe in downtown Manhattan had their health impaired: the World Trade Center Health Program now serves 70,000 people, with 3,600 new members joining the program from July 2014 to June 2015.

The federal law known as the James A. Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act of 2011, which established the WTC Health Program, is set to expire soon. Zadroga was an NYPD officer who died in 2006 of a respiratory illness attributed to his participation in rescue and recovery operations after 9/11. U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and Reps. Peter King, Kathleen Rice, Carolyn Maloney and others are fighting to reauthorize the Zadroga legislation. We urge readers to contact their own House representatives and demand that they get on board with the reauthorization and persuade their Congressional colleagues to do the same.

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