LIHU‘E — While yesterday was a day of remembrance of the innocent victims of terrorism, and those who perished in attempts to rescue victims especially in New York City’s World Trade Center towers, it was also a day to look
LIHU‘E — While yesterday was a day of remembrance of the innocent victims of terrorism, and those who perished in attempts to rescue victims especially in New York City’s World Trade Center towers, it was also a day to look forward with optimism, said Gary Heu.
“Continue to set aside some time today to remember, and to remain hopeful in a new and different world, that things will change, get better, and our children can live in a peaceful world,” said Heu, administrative assistant to Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste.
“It is a time to remember what we hold dear, our families, our friends, our community,” and to honor the Kaua‘i firefighters, police officers, Civil Defense Agency personnel, emergency medical responders, and others who “put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis so we can continue to enjoy our freedom.
“I think it’s very important that we never stop remembering” the innocent victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and those emergency workers “who gave their lives unselfishly” in rescue attempts, said Heu.
His comments came yesterday morning at a memorial ceremony at Kaua‘i Police Department headquarters that also houses the offices of the county Civil Defense Agency and the county Prosecuting Attorney.
Heu, acting mayor in Baptiste’s absence, also thanked the men and women who on very short notice put together yesterday’s ceremony.
Wilfred “Willy” Ihu, KPD deputy chief, recalled stories of thousands of people fleeing the twin towers after the first jet crashed into it, and a steady stream of police and firefighters entering the buildings in rescue attempts.
Many of the men and women responding to the emergency did not come out alive. Those who did said later they did it because it was their job. “That’s what firefighters and police are all about,” Ihu said.
Charles “Charlie” Hiramoto, chief of the Kaua‘i Fire Department, said yesterday’s remembrance was to honor the fallen police officers, firefighters, paramedics and others killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
But “not to be forgotten are those who lost loved ones, parents, friends” to terrorist attacks on that day, he said.
“Please save a special place in your prayers for those survivors who lost loved ones,” said Hiramoto.
The telephone rang at Mark Marshall’s Lihu‘e home around 3:30 a.m. Hawai‘i time on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Calling was Clifford Ikeda, the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency plans and operations manager, who was in Virginia attending a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) training seminar.
Ikeda told his boss he’d better turn on the television and see what’s happening in New York City. When he and wife Laurel Loo stared at the screen in disbelief, she said, “I think you better go to work.”
At that time, Marshall was unsure what would happen next, but had a thought going through his head that the events unfolding in New York City were the start of an east-to-west string of terrorist events that might not spare Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i or Guam, he said.
That obviously didn’t happen, but in the 24 months since the event the scope of his duties changed dramatically, to include terrorism preparedness as well as natural-disaster preparedness, he observed.
“We’ll never be the same again,” Marshall said. “Thank you for coming, and thank you for remembering,” he told the crowd of around 50 people including many KPD and KFD officers and staff.
The ceremony began with KPD and KFD personnel raising the Hawaiian and American flags, first to full staff, then down to half-staff, in honor of those who perished two years ago yesterday.
There was no breeze at all, so the flags clung to the poles.
The Rev. Jan Rudinoff, pastor of St. Michael & All Angels’ Episcopal Church in Lihu‘e, the KPD chaplain, officiated over A Litany of Remembrance, Penitence and Hope.
“We light a candle in remembrance for all those who suffered and died on September 11, 2001, in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. We light a candle to remember those who still live and who suffer because of the events of that day,” Rudinoff said.
“In our sadness, horror and shock, we acknowledge that our own fears turned murderous, and we have sought revenge, sometimes against even the innocent,” said Rudinoff, to which the audience responded: “We confess and regret our own anger and recognize its dangers to our spirits, our health, our community, and others.”
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
