This commentary is by Joseph Gainza, a resident of Marshfield, founder of Vermont Action for Peace.
I admire the people of Barre who, despite the inaction of their city council, found a way of commemorating the tragedy of 9/11. They managed to hoist the large flag at the corner of Washington and Church streets that had been displayed immediately after the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
This display of citizen action in an effort to remember and honor those in the U.S. who were murdered on that day reinforces my hope that as citizens we need not wait for official action to provide a sense of the deeper meanings that historical events present us. Nearly 3,000 people perished on Sept. 11, 2001; we must remember them.
Are there others to remember and honor?
My cousin Richard Arazosa was a battalion chief in the New York City Fire Department when the attack occurred. He spent the next year at Ground Zero, directing the recovery of the remains of more than 300 of his comrades and other victims of the tragedy. He attended nearly 300 funeral masses over the course of a year. The National Fallen Firefighters reports this about Rick: “Richard D. Arazosa died on April 13, 2013, from cancer related to the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center after September 11, 2001.”
Hopefully the folks in Barre also remembered people like Rick, second-degree victims of the anger and hatred that precipitated the attacks. There are many people like Rick who worked for months at Ground Zero who either have died or are struggling with diseases contracted during that period. They too deserve our remembrance and honor.
It would be arbitrary to end our memorial there. As a result of decisions made by the U.S. government in response to the attacks, nearly 3,000 U.S. servicemen and women also perished as a consequence of 9/11.
Additionally, according to Linda Bilmes of Harvard University’s Kennedy School and from the Brown University Costs of War project, the following human cost of war have been ascertained:
- American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.
- U.S. contractors: 3,846.
- Afghan national military and police: 66,000.
- Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.
- Afghan civilians: 47,245.
- Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.
- Aid workers: 444.
- Journalists: 72
Will we remember these people whose lives are as precious, as filled with hopes and dreams as that of our country’s men and women?
Equally important, if not more so, will we look deeply into our own history to find reasons why this country was attacked? Will we finally question our easy use of violence to accomplish national interests rather than diplomacy and strengthening international law and the collaborative efforts of the United Nations to establish a just world order? Will we resolve to make our nation live up to its highest ideals of freedom and justice for all and forgo the failed notion that our security lies in military power and domination of others?
Will we swear, on the thousands of lives lost, to resolve our differences with others through peaceful means, recognizing our common humanity, and the universal desire to live in peace grounded in justice?
I would have liked to join our Barre neighbors in honoring those lost to violence on 9/11 and beyond. I would have liked to pledge allegiance to the common good of all humanity, which, at its most ideal, the Stars and Stripes represents.
