Valley Stream remembers Sept. 11 victims

Nine years after the largest terrorist attack on American soil, Valley Stream residents came together to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.

At the village’s Sept. 11 memorial at Hendrickson Park, elected officials, local religious leaders and community members gathered under bright sunny skies, a day reminiscent of the one when the towers fell in 2001. There were only about a half-dozen family members of the victims present, as many attended New York City’s ceremony at Ground Zero.

Among those at the Valley Stream service last Saturday morning was Ed Thompson and his wife Violet. They lost their son, Glenn, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. Thompson said his daughter and his sister attended the Manhattan service.

But Thompson said for him, it is nice to remember his son close to home. “It’s a lovely ceremony and it’s nice that they do it,” he said of the village. “If the world could be like it is here today, it would be a lovely world to live in.”

Thompson and other family members of the victims were the first to lay roses on the monument, a tradition at the village’s ceremony.

Acting Mayor Joanne Antun recalled how she worked in Lower Manhattan at the time, and the impact that it made on her life. “In the days that followed the attacks,” she said, “we all struggled to find that new sense of normalcy.”

Having been a witness, Antun said she has a responsibility never to forget the day or those who lost their lives. She said she also remembers to live up to the American values that were attacked that day, and to never take for granted living in the United States.

Town Councilman and Valley Stream resident Jim Darcy eluded to the controversy over the proposed mosque in Lower Manhattan. Noting the protests planned for the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, he said the sanctity of the day has been replaced by political posturing.

He also said those protesting on both sides are hiding behind the Constitution, rather than decency. “Just because you have the right to do something,” he said, “doesn’t make that something is the right thing to do.”

Darcy called on everyone to remember the heroic actions of Americans in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and how a day of horror turned into a day of hope.

Pat Fennelly attended the ceremony in honor of her brother, Robert Caufield. She said she comes every year.

Caufield was a lieutenant in the Valley Stream Fire Department and was also an electrician. Fennelly said after years of working at the World Trade Center, he had been transferred elsewhere but by unlucky chance happened to be assigned there that day. She said it was fortunate that most of his body was recovered, “so we able to bury him.”

Fennelly said she likes the small, personal ceremony in Valley Stream. The family moved to the community in 1947. “This is where Robert lived,” she said. “He lived most of his life here.”

Nine years later, Thompson said he still fells the loss of his son. “It sort of takes a toll on you,” he said.

For Fennelly, it gets a little lighter ever year, but the day never loses its meaning. She remembers how, in the wake of the attacks, people came together to help one another. Those who didn’t lose a family member or friend, grieved with their neighbors who did.