9/11 Memorial: Should rescuers get special recognition?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m just wondering how Dopers feel about this issue, after just watching the news. The families of the 9/11 victims were allowed to view the prospective designs for the memorial today. As it always seems to be, there is some unhappiness. Some of the families of the rescuers (firefighters, policemen, etc) want their victims honored separately and specially. Many of the other families believe that all victims should be remembered equally.

Apparently most NYers feel the same way.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/09/10/wtc.memorial/

excerpt:

I sorta feel the same way. It has gotten to the point where you can’t say 9/11 nowadays without people praising the brave fire fighters. They were brave, no doubt. But they weren’t the only ones who were sacrificed on that day. I understand not wanting the memory of your son or daughter to be overshadowed by a memorial within a memorial. Everyone in that building was a contributing member to society. No one’s death was more tragic than another’s.

But then again, I understand the other side. Maybe if my father or brother or sister were firefighters who were killed, I would want them honored in a special way too.

Those of us who aren’t directly affected by this don’t have a say one way or another, but I’m curious how other people feel.

2

I sorta feel the same way about equal billing too.

Being that there is no right or wrong answer here, I’m gonna lurch into hijack territory with a small aside.

I don’t wanna sound sour or unsympathetic, but after reading so many local press accounts of all the shenanigans that have gone on since 9/11, I know there’s gonna be alot of shouting & accusing going on until a decision is made in Dec.

Now matter how you slice it, a surviving family member is going to find something unfair and raise an issue with it.

Will the survivors of the victims whose last names began with W, X, Y or Z complain about a list an alphabetized list?
OK, the bureacrats will study the ‘unfair to the Zigfried family’ issue and come back a solution that calls for listing the victims in order of their age. That in turn will enrage the seniors & the silver foxes will start screaming holy hell. After threatening a lawsuit, the ‘Plan B’ Lottery system; where names are pulled out of a hat, will be implemented.

I don’t wanna predict this, for fear it’ll come to light, but what if a surviving family member raises an issue over name lengths? Something like,
’I don’t think it’s fair that my uncle,
ED WOO
is sandwiched between
ALFONSE JOCACHEM WOJOHOWICZ AND ELIZABETH WOPPWRIGHT-MASTERSON.
They get over 360 square inches of coverage while my uncle only gets 84 square inches. I demand every name be typeset in the same amount of alloted space.’

It sounds insane, and I realize I sound overly cynical, but I honestly won’t be the least bit surprised if a month from now, I’m reading about it somewhere.

In my opinion, they should include the name of every person in American Military who’s fought and died in both the Afghani & Iraqi theaters since the war on terror was declared.
.
They get over 360 square inches of coverage while my uncle only gets 84 square inches. I demand every name be typeset in the same amount of alloted space.’*

It sounds insane, and I realize I sound overly cynical, but I honestly won’t be the least bit surprised if a month from now, I’m reading about it somewhere.

In my opinion, they should include the name of every person in American Military who’s fought and died in both the Afghani & Iraqi theaters since the war on terror was declared.

3

Wife of a Dallas firefighter checking in: Why is this even up for debate? The survivors were coming down the stairs as the firefighters were going up.

4

There are plenty of firefighters memorials, and other places to recognize their special contributions. Isn’t there already some kind of firefighter statue somewhere? I’m sure there are memorials at the firehouses involved, and maybe will be on the property as a seperate part.

In the main memorial, there shouldn’t be classes of victims. This is about loss, sadness and memory- and most importantly about the families. We should use this memorial to contemplate the dead, not to advance personal or political agendas. And everyone’s loss is just as tragic and just as important and just as need of contemplation in this case.

I personally liked the idea of grouping people according to the pepole that they worked together with- by floor and firm. People would be surrounded by the people the were surrounded by in their last moments- likely people they knew. It seems kind of comforting, like they can give each other those last hugs even from beyond the grave. In any case, it seems better than being sandwiched between strangers.

5

Because the wives of the firefighters don’t get any more say than the spouses of everyone else?

Firefighters are memorialized at the NYC Fire Museum and at separate firehouses. They even have a coin memorializing the firefighters efforts. The FDNY is so linked to 9/11 that one might get the feeling that there were more firefighters killed than everyone else. No one should feel that the FDNY isn’t getting their props, IMHO.

I agree with JohnBckWld. No matter what design they choose, there will always be someone who feels slighted.

6

I see no problem with a separate listing. There was heroism all around, but the firefighters didn’t have to be there. The fact that they were there deserves special recognition.

7

RealityChuck:

Weren’t they doing their jobs, though? None of them were volunteers.

8

As an aside, my husband and I were talking about this last night - [JohnBckWLD, I’m sorry to say that the scenario you outlined (equal space, typsets, etc.) is one both my husband and I were afraid we’d see happening - it’s sad, isn’t it.

9

New Yorker here saying that everybody who died there–rich and poor, CEOs and delivery boys, resucers and hapless victims–died together, and the memorial should treat everybody equally. Their murderers did.

But I think most people would have no objection to a rescuer’s memorial (don’t forget the cops, court officers, and Port Authority cops) nearby too.

10

Is this something new, giving loved ones of victims any say in what replaces a demolished building or disaster site? What was done in London (and Dresden, and Hiroshima) after WWII? There is no “memorial,” as far as I know, to those who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The memorials to victims of the General Slocum and the Brooklyn Theater Fire were designed by, well, designers, and the families seemed to have been touched and grateful.

Why all the in-fighting and back-stabbing and one-upmanship (“I’m more grieved than you are!”) with the WTC site?

11

The obvious solution is not to list anyone’s names at all. If people are going to get pissy and aggrieved over how their loved one’s name is placed on a memorial to the loved one then strike all the names and include an inscription dedicating the memorial to “all who died” or something. Or incorporate a symbol to stand for each person.