Within hours of the news about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the loss of so many lives, people around the world sought ways to express their grief and to support the men and women who continued working to help save the victims. In Massapequa, people began to stop by the newly installed Firefighters Memorial, and though it was not finished, they thought it the perfect spot to express their feelings. Over the last several weeks it was filled with flowers and photographs, notes and poems and prayers from the community.

The items finally had to be cleared away to allow workers to put in the foundation for the granite walls that will be erected at the memorial. Unless that work proceeded, the final touches for the memorial would have had to be postponed until the spring, and since the granite walls were on order and ready to be delivered, the delay would have caused major problems.

The items placed at the memorial were, therefore, carefully collected by Massapequa Park Village Trustee John O’Brien, who was instrumental in getting the memorial up, and resident Ed Cox. We asked if we could look through the items and document some of the sentiments in our newspaper. The result is the two page spread this week.

The items have been carefully cleaned and dried and will now be delivered to the Massapequa Fire Department.

To all who contributed something to that site, which represented the heart and soul of the entire community, we can say little more than what has already been said. We pray for the victims and their families and we thank the volunteers from the bottom of our hearts.