Free Press – September 11 Remembered

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Three days ago, we remembered 9-11. The horror of that day is etched in every American mind forever. This was the fifth anniversary of the attack. Like Pearl Harbor Day each December 7^th, we remember the hour and the day when those planes hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the farmland in western Pennsylvania.

Betsy and I were in Milan, Italy on that Tuesday morning. A group of us were traveling to the small town of Vinci to celebrate the unveiling of a replica of the horse, which Leonardo da Vinci designed. Charles Dent (the uncle of Congressman Charlie Dent from Allentown) raised the money and awareness to fulfill Leonardo’s dream…500 years later. We started our trip in Milan because the super sized horse was located there.

As I always do when on a trip, I frequently call home to stay in touch with the family and newspapers for which I write. The phone in the hotel room wouldn’t complete my call to America. Frustrated, I descended to the lobby and asked the front desk for help.

“Haven’t you heard, Mr. Meredith,” the clerk asked?

“Heard what,” I responded.

And then he told me what had happened. For the rest of the day, we sat in our room, glued to the TV watching CNN and those terrible scenes. We remembered the kindness that perfect strangers extended to us for the rest of the trip. How could something like this happen to America, everyone wondered? Why would anyone want to attack the country which has always been a safe haven for the oppressed people of the world?…the leader of the free world.

Five years later, America finds itself at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our list of allies has grown very short. Our international political capital diminished. And there is no end in sight.

We will always remember the drive as we returned from the JFK airport on Long Island to Quakertown. It was midnight on a crystal clear evening as we crossed the Verrazano Bridge overlooking lower Manhattan. The twin towers of the World Trade Center had vanished.

A few months later, the Morning Call sent our daughter Catherine to take pictures of the four lights, which were emblems for the towers that were no more. We stood on the New Jersey shore on a cold winter night, gazing at the city and the four towers of light, shinning toward the heavens.

It was a time, which we will never forget.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith

PS. Next week, I’ll pass along a note about a 50^th anniversary party which members of the Quakertown football and basketball teams are planning for November. Both teams were Buxmont League champions for the 1956-1957 academic year. And I’ll have a word or two about Richland Township Supervisor Mike Zowniriw’s conviction. I might even address the children who openly challenge Quakertown motorists on their bicycles. Your eyes may glaze over when I write about the need for more speed bumps and four way stops. If space permits, I might give a thought about the swingers club that was closed down in Coopersburg.

Kids on bikes

Cars traveling too fast on 2^nd st…call 911

4 way stop/ speed bumps

Swingers club in Coopersburg

Randolph Macon Womens College going co-ed