Remembering Victims of 9/11

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Dennis Patrick O’Berg had begun a career as an accountant but was not fulfilled with the choice. So he decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps as a firefighter. A recent graduate of the fire academy, he was stationed at a firehouse in Brooklyn.

Dennis had recently married Christine, and they were ready to start a family. Regarding his career change, Christine observed, “He was so much more cheerful when he came home [each day].” On September 11, 2001, he was dispatched to the World Trade Center (WTC).

O’Berg’s firefighter dad was at the 9/11 disaster scene, too. He went looking for his son but found only his fire truck. It was “smothered in debris.” The young fireman was nowhere to be found.

At work at AFA in Tupelo, Mississippi, that morning, I remember well when we heard the first report of a United Airlines Flight crashing into New York’s WTC. Before another plane collided with the second tower, we had clustered around a television and saw it live.

A third terrorists’ plane targeted the Pentagon in D.C., but heroic passengers on a fourth terrorist plane were able to wrest control from terrorist pilots before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

World Impact

That day’s evil assault by Islamic terrorists marked a turning point in international relationships. It was an assault on freedom the world over. An instant sense of fear and despair seemed to blanket the world.

On this 25th anniversary of that attack, I confess that time had dulled my senses to recall, appreciate, and memorialize the 2,997 victims of the heinous crime against freedom.

So, I’m grateful for the email that landed in my inbox early this week. It came from Legacy.com, a site that stores obituaries of varied demographics, e.g. your hometown, cancer survivors, 9/11 victims, and more.

Legacy’s email this week was about their site that memorializes the victims of 9/11. It made me revisit some of the emotions, fears, anger, and questions that ran rampant across the nation and all of the free world.

Stephen Segal, editor in chief of Legacy, said, “Twenty-five years ago this fall, our purpose here – to be the place where life stories live on – suddenly became very real.”

That’s how it felt to me. It again felt very real as I got a glimpse into the lives of some of those who died in that vicious attack. The site includes brief biographical insights, surviving family members’ sentiments, and friends’ memories of the great majority of victims.

More Victims’ Stories

In a nutshell, here’s Alona Abraham’s heart-rending story. Seeing America had long been one of her dreams. She was visiting a friend in Boston, her first trip to the U.S. Her mother, who lived in Israel, said she had called and reported, “I’m having a great time. She was laughing and talking about going on picnics and sightseeing with her friends.” On 9/11, Alona was on a United Airlines Flight from Boston to New York when it hit the South Tower.

Another family speaks of Christian faith as they remember their lost loved one. Daniel Gallagher worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, an investments firm with offices in the WTC. The company reported early on that 658 personnel were dead or missing. Daniel was among the dead. Daniel’s birthday was July 4.

That summer, barely two months before 9/11, a host of some 30 friends and family had celebrated his 23rd birthday together flipping burgers, playing whiffle ball on the beach, enjoying fireworks. One cousin later remarked to his mother, “You know, Ma, God gift-wrapped that weekend for our family.”

Segal explained that they have refreshed Legacy’s September 11 memorial site, and modernized the tech it’s built on

“It’s a living memorial where you can read the original life stories, share your own memories, and salute the helpers who risked everything that day,” he said.

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