The Empty Sky memorial at Liberty State Park was honored last night on the 24th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack that occurred across the Hudson River.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
1010 WINS reporter and news anchor Glenn Schuck served as the master of ceremonies, which began with the Port Authority Police Pipes and Drums Band, followed by Sofia, Lucia, and Vicki Pereira singing the national anthem.
Jessica Jamroz, the designer of the memorial, welcomed the dozens in attendance before introducing Michael Danatos, a NJ 9/11 Family & Surviving Committee member who vividly recalled searching for his brother, Brian Martineau, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
“Nothing but amorphous rubble and the acrid stench of death that clung to the air, robbing me of the hope that I needed to find. A guttural scream left my body at the anguish of incomprehension of what I had just witnessed,” Danatos stated.
“Never forget: There are days when I wish I just could, but I can’t and I won’t. Not only was the sky empty, but my soul was empty as well.”
He further stated that he is upset with the “brutalized condition” of the Empty Sky memorial, noting he was heartbroken when he heard a visitor say “this is such typical dirty Jersey” when remarking on the condition of the memorial.
Therefore, Danatos expressed that it’s fine for the memorial to finally be completed and that disinterested politicians shouldn’t be able to interfere with that.
The keynote speaker, who was introduced by his good friend John Farmer – a former New Jersey attorney general – was 9/11 Pentagon attack survivor Kevin Shaeffer. He was also a CIA Target Officer on the core team that tracked and found Osama Bin Laden.
“In stunned silence, we continued to watch the events unfold on the command center’s large-screen TVs. Never did any of us consider our location, the Pentagon fortress, to be at risk. In a flash, at 9:37 [a.m.], the entire command center exploded in an orange fireball and I was slammed to the deck by a massive and thunderous shock wave,” Shaeffer explained.
“I never lost consciousness and I immediately sensed I was on fire. A coordinated attack I thought, I felt the flames, the space quickly being overcome with smoke, it burned my mouth and my throat and I struggled to breath. My mind raced to my wife Blanca, the love that we shared, and I was sickened at the thought of never seeing her again.”
Shaeffer continued that he had the presence of mind to keep moving until he made it outside via a hole that had been blasted in the Pentagon wall and he was successfully able to get help from Army Sgt. First Class Steve Workman – who he now calls a brother.
Workman rode with Shaeffer in the ambulance to the hospital and after several months of treatment for lung damage and second- and third-degree burns on half of his body, he eventually recovered, despite flatlining on more than one occasion.
To conclude the event, attendees were handed candles to walk through the monument and down to the riverfront, where a live guitar rendition of “Empty Sky” was played.
