Next Wednesday marks the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the fall of the World Trade Center, the crash of Flight 93, and the attack on the Pentagon.
Much has changed in the decades since that terrible day, but in Livingston, each and every year, we still take the time to honor the seven township residents we lost: Luke A. Dudek. Jeffrey Brian Gardner. Donald Thomas Jones II. Ming-Hao Liu. Joseph P. McDonald. John M. Pocher. Kenneth Albert Zelman.
These seven Livingstonites became part of a nationwide tragedy that forever altered the face of America. Our country’s confidence in the security of its citizens and its institutions was shaken to its core, and nothing has been the same since. In the years that followed, towns across the nation held ceremonies to honor the more than 3,000 people who lost their lives in the attacks, including our own service in Livingston.
In the 20-plus years that have passed since the attacks, the pain has dulled, especially for those who suffered no personal losses that day. There are now full-fledged adults who were born after the attacks. Terrorism is, sadly, much more commonplace these days, with information of the latest mass shooting so frequent that it is no longer even guaranteed to lead the evening news. The “new normal” is no longer new.
But, like the attack on Pearl Harbor that launched our country into World War II, September 11 has become “a date that lives in infamy.” The very date, in and of itself, has become synonymous with the tragic events of that day. Those who were alive in 1963 always recall where they were and what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy had been shot. Likewise, for those of a certain age, September 11, 2001, serves as a line of demarcation, defining the date that this “new normal” was established. The way we travel, the way we perceive our place as Americans on the world stage, even the way we live our everyday lives, was irrevocably changed.
In the tri-state area, where we live in a closer proximity to the site of the attack on the World Trade Center than the rest of the country, many of the 9/11 memorial ceremonies continued to be held as the years passed. But as time has moved on and we begin the third decade following the terrorist attacks, even here there are fewer and fewer services to mark the anniversary.
Yet, more than 20 years in, Livingston’s ceremony continues to be an annual event. In many ways, the observance held each year at the Oval’s 9/11 Living Memorial Garden has only grown in size and significance, as there are fewer services for residents, families, and service members to attend in neighboring towns. Livingston shows no signs of ending its Ceremony of Remembrance any time soon. This is thanks, in large part, to the late Bunnie Ratner, who died in 2022. An enthusiastic, dedicated, and prolific volunteer in town, Bunnie took the lead for the township in planning the ceremony for two decades prior to her passing.
Please consider attending Wednesday evening’s event at the 9/11 Livingston Memorial Garden at the Oval. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. and be held rain or shine. We hope that residents who cannot attend will take some time to reflect, and to be kind to one another.
We are proud to live in a township that continues to honor our seven residents, and the thousands of others who were killed with them, on September 11, 2001. We all come together annually to pay our respects and remember a true local and national tragedy. It is worth acknowledging how so many people return to this remembrance ceremony, year after year, to commemorate this solemn occasion. It is a microcosm of what makes this town so unique and special. If there is a reason to gather, a group of people to honor, or a cause to take on, Livingston steps up. This ceremony covers all of those bases.
As we say each year, the thousands who perished on that day did not deserve to die the way they did, but they do deserve to be remembered. So, again we will say the names of the seven Livingston residents we lost: Luke A. Dudek, Jeffrey Brian Gardner, Donald Thomas Jones II, Ming-Hao Liu, Joseph P. McDonald, John M. Pocher, and Kenneth Albert Zelman.
Gone for 23 years, but never forgotten.
