How will history judge a society that thought so little of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001, as to leave them in a landfill?
My name is Thomas J. Meehan III. I'm the father of Colleen Ann Meehan Barkow, age 26, who perished in the attack upon the World Trade Center. Colleen was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, working on the 103rd floor. Her partial remains were found on Sept. 17, 2001, the date which was to have been her first wedding anniversary.
My wife and I continue to be filled with the anguish of her death, the manner in which she died, her unviewable remains, her dismemberment. I share these facts so that you may understand why our lives have not returned to "normal" and why I seek to remind those not directly affected by the events of 9/11 of the solemn oath, "Never to forget."
The right to a proper burial is an important part of healing, a distinct point in the grieving process that those who have lost loved ones must travel. Almost a third of the victims of 9/11 were residents of New Jersey. We, the families, are still in pain and anguish as we try to cope with the emptiness of our lives, our lost spouses, children, siblings who perished.
Thomas and JoAnn Meehan ask for help in finding a better solution.
With each passing hour and day, the continued erosion of the site at the landfill where our loved ones were taken hurts us. The site, Fresh Kills Landfill, Staten Island, continues to erode, and, as it does, the task before us grows more difficult to accomplish.
The families must face the daily anguish that their loved ones, those called heroes yesterday, are still in what is a city dump.
Families of those lost must schedule an appointment through a sanitation department to visit the landfill, to pay homage to their loved ones. Many may never see this landfill become a public place they can visit during their lifetime. It already has been more than two years. The families continue to wait.
My wife and I, members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Woodbridge, N.J., have become advocates for a number of issues related to Sept. 11. We hope others in our church will find the compassion to learn about our struggle. A website put together by several families will tell more about our mission and give others a chance to sign our petition: http://www.wtcfamiliesforproperburial.com/. Please visit. Please pray with us. And please don't ever forget.
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