September 11 Past, Present, Future 2015

The Past – When September 11 Was Just an Ordinary Day

I shot the first two photos in the early 1990s, the first from the Staten Island Ferry, and the second from the 86th Floor Observatory Deck of the Empire State Building. I lived in Flushing, Queens during this time. The Twin Towers were an important part of my life, as they frequently punctuated childhood visits to Manhattan. I worked there for a week as a temp; worked six months in the neighborhood, and celebrated my first wedding anniversary there. Until 2001, September 11 was just an ordinary day on the calendar.

September 11 – A Day that will Live in Infamy

When the September 11 attacks were launched upon our nation, I was working for Con Edison doing desktop support and LAN administration. I had been there about 18 months and had the good fortune to be at at our Victory Blvd. facility in Staten Island, some 30 miles away from the Twin Towers that day. My wife was supposed to be exiting the Battery Tunnel at the time the first plane struck as she would have been on her way to a dance class. After an hour of frantic calling, I learned that she stayed home.

I wanted a Reagan-like response to the September 11 attacks. As the hours passed, I waited. Nothing. Our response would come October 7, 2001 at 12:30 EDT. I was in Boston with my wife as we visited a relative of hers who was attending Harvard University on a partial scholarship. That day, I felt I had to visit all the historic sites in the area — Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill, Lexington, Concord. When I heard the Battle Hymn of the Republic being played on church bells, I ran to find a TV, and that was where I saw that the War in Afghanistan had started.

While George W. Bush was no Ronald Reagan, he did keep us safe following September 11, for there was not one attack on US soil. Indeed many attempts were foiled and many Al Qaeda sleeper cells were busted up.

September 11, 2001 is a day that is forever scarred in the psyches of all New Yorkers who were here that day.

Much Visible Progress Made at WTC Site since 2014

This two-minute time-lapse covers the construction of One WTC from 2004 – 2013.

One WTC (Formerly “Freedom Tower”) is 1,368 feet to the roof, 1,776 feet to the beacon and 1,792 feet to the tip of the lighting rod. The Observatory opened for business on May 29, 2015 and had an Open House on May 28. We were on location for both events.

The Transit Hub Oculus is approaching completion….

If Fox News completes its lease agreement, Two WTC will be re-designed to look as described above. The building is currently stalled at the retail podium level for lack of an anchor tenant.

Three WTC has reached more than half its final height thanks to an anchor tenant that allowed the building to progress above the retail podium. Four WTC also pictured is open for business.

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is being rebuilt and it sits atop the new Vehicle Security Center and beside the new Liberty Park, all of which are under construction. Another office tower – Five WTC – is still not even in a design phase.

Towers of Light being tested on September 9, 2015 as seen from the road leading to the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial in these one-second exposures.

You can see regularly updated progress on the WTC site at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s WTC Progress site. You can also view the official One WTC site, and Silverstein Properties WTC Site for more information.

Resurrection, Juxtaposition

It was at the same Victory Blvd. facility nearly seven years to the day following September 11, that I would hear the resurrection of Ronald Reagan. As I pulled my assigned minivan out of the lot and turned on the radio, her voice and words would so transfix me that after two blocks I could not drive any more. The yearning for leadership I felt at that Victory Blvd. location some seven years earlier was answered by a woman’s voice, whose name I did not even know at the time.

Gov. Palin’s Commander-In-Chief Experience Highlights

Though former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is not currently running for any elective office, September 11 is a day we have traditionally highlighted her Commander-In-Chief experience. It is right and appropriate that this tradition continue, especially considering that the Obama administration is feckless in dealing with ISIS – an offshoot of Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood – the sub-human trash that brought us September 11.

Gov. Palin has commander-in-chief experience and accomplishments that were concomitant with her job. Two, very simple phrases describe her military doctrine: “peace through strength,” and “we win, they lose.” In her speech delivered at Colorado Christian University on May 2, 2011, Gov. Palin outlined her five-point military doctrine in detail:

1. First, we should only commit our forces when clear and vital American interests are at stake. Period.
2. Second, if we have to fight, we fight to win. To do that, we use overwhelming force. We only send our troops into war with the objective to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible. We do not stretch out our military with open-ended and ill-defined missions. Nation building is a nice idea in theory, but it is not the main purpose of our armed forces. We use our military to win wars.
3. And third, we must have clearly defined goals and objectives before sending troops into harm’s way. If you can’t explain the mission to the American people clearly and concisely, then our sons and daughters should not be sent into battle. Period.
4. Fourth, American soldiers must never be put under foreign command. We will fight side by side with our allies, but American soldiers must remain under the care and the command of American officers.
5. Fifth, sending in our armed forces should be the last resort. We don’t go looking for dragons to slay. However, we will encourage the forces of freedom around the world who are sincerely fighting for the empowerment of the individual. When it makes sense, when it’s appropriate, we will provide them with material support to help them win their own freedom.

Gov. Palin’s military doctrine is clearly patterned after her forebear, Ronald Reagan.

Watch as she interrupted her own VP campaign to return to Alaska and bid her troops farewell to Iraq on September 11, 2008. Her son, Track was among them. He enlisted a year earlier on September 11, 2007.

She elevated soldiers’ ranks…

She served….

She saluted her Non-Commissioned Officers….

She was saluted as a Commander…

Walter Reed Part I, December 6, 2009 7:01 AM EST:

Walter Reed Part II, December 6, 2009 10:41 AM EST:

Craig E. Campbell who served as Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor, and as the Alaska National Guard’s Adjutant General discusses Gov. Palin’s Commander-in-Chief skills in the foregoing video. Campbell has since gone on to become President and Chief Operating Officer of the Alaska Aerospace Corporation. Special thank you to Gary P. Jackson for informing me about this video, which aired in 2008. Selected quotes from the video:

“Right after she got elected, when she was sworn in as governor, one of the first things in one of our briefings — she asked me ‘where are our soldiers (AK National Guard) deployed and how can I go see them?”

-Craig E. Campbell

“When she came home to Alaska, she brought home ideas about what soldiers’ desires were, what family needs were and implemented those into law the following year…that’s what a Commander-in-Chief does – is take care of soldiers, take care of airman, and she does it exceptionally well.”

-Craig E. Campbell

“She is above and beyond what a governor would do. I’ve watched and seen this for a long time in many states around the country. There a few governors that rise to the challenge and they take the National Guard as their own and they really want to provide the services that a commander-in-chief needs. Sarah Palin does that. She goes to deployments, she goes to returns. When we work the budget for the state, she wants to make sure that the state is putting the right amount of money in to support the soldiers’ and airman’s needs and our National Guard. When she does policy, she makes sure soldier’s families are taken care of in the State of Alaska. This is what a Commander-in-Chief does.”

-Craig E. Campbell

From: “Governor Palin Visits Alaska National Guard in Kosovo” on the State of Alaska, Governor archive site:

“As commander-in-chief, Governor Palin is the one we look to for leadership and inspiration while serving and defending the sovereign boundaries of Alaska,” said Lt. Gen. (AK) Craig E. Campbell, Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard.

Gov. Palin at the WTC site and with FDNY 2008

Gov. Palin’s Leadership…

-“Praesis ut prosis ne ut imperes”
-Lead in order to serve, not in order to rule.

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