We have many ways to memorialize people who gave their lives for America. (And other reasons, but this entry is not about them.) We build monuments: the Vietnam Memorial is an excellent example and many people are working towards the construction of a similar (in reason, not design) memorial to honor members of the American armed services who gave their lives in World War II. We often name portions of highways to remember police officers who died in the line of duty there; a portion of Highway 101 in San Mateo County has been designated to honor Millbrae policeman Dave Chetcuti after Chetcuti was killed while responding to a fellow officer’s call for help.
Yesterday, in what I feel is a terrific choice, the governors of New Jersey and New York (James McGreevey and George Pataki) proposed renaming Newark International Airport to Liberty International Airport. “The events of September 11th shattered our domestic tranquility and threatened us all,” said McGreevey. “Governor Pataki and I agree that it would be appropriate to commemorate the memory of the heroes of that day by this proposed name-change for Newark International Airport.” I have a special connection to that airport, I suppose, having grown up less than ten miles from it and having watched it transformed in the 1970s from a sleepy (dingy) little one (passenger) terminal to a busy, dynamic modern air facility. This is one of the few times it’s easy to say some politicians have done the right thing.
BillSaysThis 