by John Finucan
Hundreds of firefighters and family members of rescue workers who died on September 11 packed the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on May 28, urging the members of the jury selecting a 9/11 memorial that the design must list the affiliations of rescue workers who died in the World Trade Center attacks. Some, holding up signs that said, "They went in together, let them stay together," said that the firefighters who died should be listed together with the members of their company, not listed alphabetically.
"If it wasn't for them, you would need twice as much space for a memorial because there would be twice as many victims," said Chris Ganci, whose father, Chief of the Fire Department Pete Ganci, died on 9/11.
Other victim's family members said the memorial should not show some victims as more worthy of recognition. "Please ensure that the truth of the day is told, honestly and equally," Julie Boryczewski, whose younger brother, a trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, died on 9/11, told the jury. "Once separations are made, integrity is lost within the whole."
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's guidelines say that the memorial should "honor the loss of life equally and the contributions of all without establishing any hierarchies," but the memorial competition's rules do not specifically bar designers from including a victim's job, rank or title.
Others at the hearing told jury members to use different criteria when chosing a design. Carl Weisbrod, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York and a development corporation board member, said that the jury should chose a design that brings Daniel Libeskind's plan for a sunken memorial space up to street level.
The deadline for registering to enter the design competition was May 29. Over 13,000 people registered, more than any design competition in history. They will have until June 30 to submit their designs, and the jury will spend the rest of the summer evaluating them.
"I would urge the jury to prefer designs that really go the extra mile in creating ways for future visitors to experience each of these individual people," said Michael Kuo, a victim's family member who works at Imagine New York, "so that they can know how special my father was, and how special everyone who was lost was."
Here are excerpts from the testimony. Only Four of Us Made it Out Alive Lt. Thomas McGoff Engine Co. 217 in Brooklyn
I am a lieutenant in the New York City fire department, assigned to Engine Company 217 in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. On September 11, I was working, and I responded with five brave firemen to the trade center. We were approaching the Marriott Hotel when tower two fell. Four of us made it out alive, two guys, Steve Coakley and Neil Leavey, who were with me that day, perished.
As their officer, I was responsible for them that day. As their officer, I am responsible for them today, and I am asking you, that when we have a memorial, and their names go on the wall, I want their names to go up with FDNY, Engine 217, along with 341 other comrades from the fire department, and also recognize the cops from the New York City Police Department and the Port Authority. If It Wasn't for Them, You Would Need Twice As
Much Space for a Memorial Chris Ganci
My father was Pete Ganci, he was a fireman, and if you asked him what he did, he would say he was a fireman, like all these guys. Not to mention, he was the chief of the department, but he would say he was a fireman, because that is what these guys do, it's their lives.
I'd like to address the jury. I read through your biographies, and as impressive as they are, I didn't see any relationship to fire departments or police departments. It's not a slight, I just want to address what it is like to live in that culture, because that is what it is, it's a culture.
I?m 26 years old. For the majority of my life, I wondered whether or not my father would come home from work every single night. And at the least possible moment, he didn't come home from work. And, for those reasons, it is hard for some people to maybe realize that these men don't do it for money, they don't do it for fame, what they do it for is for each other, and for strangers, for the chance that if their family was in trouble, someone would come to their rescue.
And that's what happened on September 11, 25,000 people were saved because of the efforts of men like this. And it should be noted for historical record, by their names, or at least the Maltese cross, something that says, these men, these men willingly gave their lives to help other people. Because they didn't do it for money, they don't get paid a lot. They do it for each other, they do it for everybody in this room. And if it wasn't for them, you would need twice as much space for a memorial because there would be twice as many victims. My Husband Did Not Turn His Back on the Victims Joanne Barbara, from Staten Island
I am here on behalf of my husband, FDNY Assistant Chief of Department Gerard Barbara and all of the other rescue workers of 9/11. My husband was in the fire department for 31 years, just prior to that, he was in the navy for four. He started his career in a war zone overseas and ended it in a war zone on U.S. soil. This is the last memory my children and I have of Gerry: A fireman turned soldier assessing the attack and trying to plan strategies to safely evacuate 25,000 innocent victims. My husband did not turn his back on the victims. He went in knowingly, fully aware that he would lose many firefighters and never save all of the victims. He entered the building and was never seen again. We have no remains, nothing to bury. This is his burial site.
Not to acknowledge the efforts of the rescue workers and those in uniform on the memorial, to not identify them as part of the fire department, is a disgrace to all of the victims, and a injustice to all of the rescue workers in this country and the world. It is important to set the historical record straight from the start for generations to come. Linda Giammona
I just want to ask the panel: can you feel it? Can you feel the passion? Have you been moved? Did you cry? That's what we're feeling. That's what we've felt the past 18 months. Every day. And now you get to feel it. And I want you to hold on to it, I want you to embrace it, and I want you to keep it close to your heart, because that?s where it is for all of us...
There are so many things that I wanted to say tonight that have already been said, and I am in awe of the intelligent, dignified, respectful, heartwarming remarks that have been made tonight by everyone. I want you to go to bed tonight and think of those three things that you keep hearing over and over and over again. And that is: on one day, eighteen months ago, a group of people tried to make a difference. And we are not saying that they are any more special than anyone else. We are saying, acknowledge that when the world was falling apart, firefighters, police officers and Port Authority and emergency service workers went in there and made a difference. You make a difference. I know it is a hard job, but they had a hard job too. And I don't know if you are up for it, I hope you are. But tonight I want you to think about it.
We are not asking for much. This is an area that many people's lives were destroyed at, and many people have not been recovered. My brother, unfortunately, was one of them, like many other stories you have heard tonight. Their very beings are still there. And you want to have people taking subways and trains and buying T-shirts and that's absurd.
I just want to say a couple of things. My brother died on his 40th birthday. Captain Vincent Giammona, my best friend. He is the son, was the son, of my father, who gave 40 years of his life as a firefighter to this city. I know my brother, if he was here and he had his choice, and I asked him, "Vinnie, what do you want on your tombstone, what do you want it to say?" He would say, "I want it to be Captain Vincent Giammona, FDNY, Ladder 5, father, son, brother, uncle, best friend." Remember him, tonight, when you go to sleep. Thank you. My Husband Died in the Line of Duty Ann Van Hine
My husband was Richard Bruce Van Hine, he was a firefighter with squad 41, in the Bronx. I have a medal from the city of New York that tells me that my husband died in the line of duty. And I would appreciate it if, at this memorial, it says that my husband died in the line of duty. I do not see my husband as victim. I do not want my great grandchildren to see my husband as a victim. He was not a victim. He was killed in the line of duty.
The other thing that I would just mention to you is that, it says that the victims of September 11 2001 attacks on New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as the people from February 26, 1993 terrorist bombings should be recognized. And I would hope, in keeping the history straight, that it would be mentioned which people were at the Pentagon, which does have its own memorial, which people were in Shanksville, which I understand will have its own memorial, and which people were at the World Trade Center, which it does not seem will have its own memorial because we're lumping them all together and making a 9/11 memorial, as opposed to a Twin Towers or WTC memorial.
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