....The bravest of the brave....

Our hearts are heavy with sadness, we have lost a dear member of our family in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. NY Fire Fighter Peter Brennan, of Rescue 4, selflessly gave his life in order to save others. Peter was my brother-in-law. He married my sister Erica in 1995. He was only 30 years old at the time of his passing. He leaves behind a wife, 22-month-old daughter Anna and an unborn son due in January - the week of their wedding anniversary.

"We miss you dear brother and we are intensely proud of the way you lived your life and of your ultimate sacrifice. You left us too soon."

Love, Sherry and Larry

links to newspaper articles about Peter Brennan:

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/newyork/ny-iepals2365574sep14.story

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-wtc-fire17a.story

ANGELS FROM THE TOWERS

on any tuesday morning, you would find us
doing what we did
to survive, to provide, to assist,
each of us a cog in the wheel of life,
each of us a piece of family, of commerce,
of city, state, and country,
and each of us innocent of knowing
we would have to be heroes, each of us and you,
who carry on despite your anguish and your pain,
you must live for us bravely, weaving a future
out of the fabric of our unmanifested dreams.

every tuesday morning now
and on all the other days of these numb weeks
we will be watching, we angels from the towers,
needing you to know our souls never touched the ground,
and even if you can't put your arms around us,
you can wrap your memory around our smiles;
may the spirit of compassion and unity inside you now
be our eternal gift to you, never to be lost.

we don't need to ride an elevator
one hundred ten stories anymore
to get a glimpse of heaven

. - Linda Marie Popolano

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families. Heartfelt thanks goes out to the rescue workers and their families as well. God Bless.

Wayne, Gina & Brandon Simonsma Elk Grove, CA

I have to say that it has helped to restore my faith in humanity to see all the support and acts of solidarity from around the world. Seeing tearful support from countries that I would otherwise expect to offer only token condolences and unusual acts of unity with my country's devastated spirit brought tears to my eyes and showed me that the tears I have cried in the past for them in their hours of pain, have always been worth my grief. Thank you to every country, every person who has been affected by this horrible moment in world history. It is nice that we can stand together, not as a nations, not as races, but as human beings and say, "We will not tolerate the destruction of human life! We will not stay silent!" Thank you to every nation, every race, every people who now stands beside its' American brothers and sisters to take a stand against these clear acts of war upon humanity.

Love and Peace, Shannon and Chris

I would like to send my deepest condolences to the families involved in this tragic incident. May God bless you and help you through this event. My heartfelt sympathies are with you...
Sincerely,
Matt Patowski
Boston, MA

My husband and I still can't get over the shock that we initially had. We now are both absorbed with grief and disbelief. We send our regards to the families that have been hurt by this tragedy.
~Hanna and Joel

Friday Night at 7:00 p.m. step out your door, stop your car, or step out of your establishment and light a candle. We will show the world that Americans are strong and united together against terrorism. Please pass this to everyone on your e-mail list. We need to reach everyone across the United States quickly.

The message: WE STAND UNITED - WE WILL NOT TOLERATE TERRORISM.

We need press to cover this -- we need the world to see

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

America: The Good Neighbor. Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

*******

Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!! This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would realize it. We are always blamed for everything, and never even get a thank you for the things we do. I would hope that each of you would send this to as many people as you can and emphasize that they should send it to as many of their friends until this letter is sent to every person on the web. I am just a single American that has read this, TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES

To the victims and families involved in this terrible matter. My heart is bleeding, how can anybody do this? All my love and prayers go out to you.

Yvette,19 Holland

I would like to send me condolences to the friends and families of the many victims from the attack on America that took place September 11, 2001.

This is a catastrophic and unforgettable event to have taken place. It's almost surreal, and unbelievable that this has happened. But I am sure it is very real to those people who survived the attack, or those who lost a loved one.

I hope the people responsible pay for what they have done, and I hope America can prevent anything like this from happening again.

We as American have to now band together and be stronger than we ever have. We must come together as a nation, put aside our differences, and be proud of our country.

May our Heros Rest In Peace.
God Bless The USA. ~Eric Adams, 21, Somerset, KY