By:Nick Buglione
An employee at Marsh and McLennan on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center-s north tower, DiPalma stopped to buy her ritual cup of coffee in the lobby before heading up to her office on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Moments later, hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the building, the first of two attacks that would destroy the twin towers and claim almost 3,000 lives, including 298 of DiPalma-s co-workers.
Though free coffee was always available at work, DiPalma preferred the special hazel-flavored variety sold downstairs, and that preference is the reason she-s alive today. If she had simply gone straight to work, DiPalma believes she would have died.
I was in total shock, she said, recalling the time it took for the gravity of the situation to sink in. I didn-t have a complete understanding of what was happening. I was uncertain of who was in there.
DiPalma joined dozens of others at Nassau County-s moment of silence in Eisenhower Park last Saturday to mark the three-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and remember approximately 300 county residents who lost their lives that day.
Held near the future site of the county-s Sept. 11 memorial, and under a sunny, clear sky not unlike that morning three years ago, the brief ceremony commenced at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane hit the north tower.
Each year since the tragedy, the county has held some service to mark the day, though this year-s was distinctly different. For the first time since the attacks, Sept. 11 seemed to feel like an ordinary day. Fewer people turned out for the moment of silence, and the crowd was filled out with volunteers working on the memorial.
Meanwhile, it was just another Saturday morning throughout Eisenhower Park. The driving range was filled will golfers, bike riders zipped along paths and park-goers went for brisk walks. It-s important that people move on, County Executive Thomas Suozzi said in his opening remarks, which echoed his words at the previous two Sept. 11 memorials.
On Sept. 11 we begin our journey to a better world, Suozzi said. We commit today to visit someone we know, to help a child, to say a prayer.
While many have been able to put the horror of the attacks behind them, there are still those whose pain will never be assuaged by the passage of time. Raw emotion was evident on the faces of those who lost loved ones. Tears welled up in many eyes as people recalled the son whose laugh they would never hear again or the wife whose embrace they would never feel again.
I live with it every day, DiPalma said. I know the co-workers that aren-t there, so there-s always that void.
Gail Mahon, of Oyster Bay, lost her brother, Thomas Anthony, an employee at Cantor Fitzgerald, and said she misses him as much today as she ever did. Of course you-re going to think about it every day, she said. He-s our brother. You miss spending time with him and having him around family events and things.
Levittown resident Nancy Gilroy also lost her brother, Cantor Fitzgerald employee Edward Shunk, and said she is still devastated. It-s been a tremendous loss, she said, adding that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed her life forever. It doesn-t matter how many years go by.
Compounding the grief, many of the victims- families were not able to give their loved ones proper burials. For them there is no place to go and say a prayer or leave a flower.
The Sept. 11 memorial being erected in Eisenhower Park, however, will likely become that place when the county cuts the ribbon on Sept. 11, 2005. The monument will cost $750,000 to build, and is being funded entirely through donations. It will feature two semitransparent aluminum towers rising 30 feet above a reflecting pool. Designed by Keith Striga, of Valley Stream, and Phil Gavosto, of Glen Cove, the memorial will feature a wall with the names of the 281 victims who lived in or had ties to Nassau County, and two pieces of steel from the World Trade Center-s wreckage.
All work is being done voluntarily, and should be completed by next summer, the county said.
Photos by James A. Escher
