President Bush

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President Bush, Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani

I am asking you to please allow the FDNY Brother’s and Sister’s continue their recovery efforts of all of our lost Brother’s and the victims from WTC. If exposure is the issue their are Firefighter’s from all over this country that would be willing to work with FDNY Firefighter’s to do a 24, 48, 72, hour tour of duty whatever it takes it would minimize the over-all exposure to Firefighter’s until the recovery effort is over. As you promised originally Mayor that the city would not quit until all the victims were recovered we all know some will never be but their are more to be recovered. We are Firefighter’s and we ask nothing in return other then that our families stand by us and they do. Now the families of my Brother’s the BEST Firefighter’s in the world need your help, all I am asking is for you to stand by them now and let us bring them home.


I am pleading with you not to let us down it’s the right thing to do.

Continue to make us proud! So stand by my FDNY Brother's now, I pray that you will.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/IceWalk...andFamily.html

Brother and Sister’s FDNY has moved tons of debris it’s time we support them and move our politicians to make the right decision and continue recovery efforts.

Remember Brother's and Sister's United We Stand we can do it. Hopefully someone will post the addresses to the Mayor and Governor’s office.

ENG40FDNYL35 I would like to ask that you also post the letter’ from families of our lost Brother’s.

Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

God Bless FDNY and all of our lost Brothers.

Dave
HTFD

[ 11-10-2001: Message edited by: FF.1205 ]

[ 11-10-2001: Message edited by: FF.1205 ]

[E40FDNYL35]

Don't Abandon My Son
& Others Buried at WTC

By JOHN LYNCH

Ground Zero is sacred ground where the remains of more than 3,500 people still lie in the rubble. Our son, Firefighter Michael Lynch,of Engine Company 40, Badge No. 2315, is one of them.

Some grieving families have had remains returned to them and have been able to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified, reverential way. But now Mayor Giuliani, with the apparent backing of Gov. Pataki and other elected officials, has effectively abandoned the recovery effort at Ground Zero and turned the site over to the Department of Design and Construction. This means the remains of my son, and of the other thousands still missing, will probably be bulldozed into a truck along with tons of debris and carted off in a garbage scow.

I have visited the site every week, and I have seen a drastic change. The care with which the operation was conducted is gone. The workers now are indiscriminately scooping up debris that could contain human remains and dumping it into trucks.

Unless the mayor, governor and other officials are pressured to change this decision, my son will be denied the dignity and my family will be denied the comfort of a decent funeral.

The city has a history of treating burial sites with reverence. When a cluster of Colonial remains was found during excavation work for a new federal building in lower Manhattan, construction came to a halt and a new plan was painstakingly put into place that incorporates a large grassy memorial called the African Burial Ground. When human remains were found near City Hall Park, an archeological supervisor was assigned to the site, and no backhoe was allowed to dig until an inspection for bodies had been performed.

For the city to treat the heroes and victims of the World Trade Center with less dignity is incomprehensible.

The memorial service held at Ground Zero on Oct. 28 was no substitute for a serious effort to identify the remains of the fallen. It now seems that the service was a gesture toward "closure" to make way for the bulldozers. Immediately following the service, the number of firefighters involved in recovery was drastically cut for "safety reasons." But Ground Zero is still a fire scene, and the FDNY should be in charge of recovering the missing 3,500. Surely, dignity for these fallen firefighters; police officers; Port Authority and emergency service workers, and civilians should not be overshadowed by financial concerns or any other pressures.

The soul of the Fire Department is the pledge that no brother member or his family will ever be abandoned. For Commissioner Thomas Von Essen to go along with the mayor's decision means he has broken that pledge and abandoned his men.

Both the mayor and Von Essen are parents themselves, so it only adds to our grief that they don't seem to understand how the families feel betrayed. My family accepts that we will never again be able to go fishing with our son Michael and watch his beautiful smile when he hooks a big one. We and the other families ask only that the recovery effort continue until evidence of our loved ones can be found. That is the right thing to do.

Giuliani has instructed us to take a lesson from the Yankees and "never give up." We are not giving up, Rudy. Why are you?

Ground Zero is a battlefield. When thousands of New Yorkers went to work that morning, they were going to war, but nobody told them. This country has gone to great trouble and expense to find the remains of missing-in-action soldiers in Vietnam and rightly so, even though there were few clues as to their location.

Now we have more than 3,500 American MIAs in New York, and we know exactly where they are. But the city will not take the time and trouble to recover the bodies.

In dedicating the national cemetery at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said: "We cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it."

The World Trade Center has entered into history. The heroes of Sept. 11 consecrated the ground. Those who desecrate it will be subject to the harsh judgment of future generations.

Mr.Lynch, the father of 10 children, is retired
after 33 years with the Transit Authority.

[E40FDNYL35]

November 5, 2001
Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Bush:

My name is Erika Ann Haub. My husband is Michael Helmut Haub, one of the Firemen who lost his life on September 11,2001. He was only a New York City Fireman for two years. He was working with Ladder 4 in Midtown Manhattan at the time of the terrorist attacks. His company, Engine 54 Ladder 4 Battalion 9, lost 15 brave men. We, have two children, Michael Andreas-4 years old and Kiersten Edda Haub-16 months old. My husband was only 34 years old and I’m only 23-year old. For me, being 23 I never thought this would happen to America or me. My husband was also a volunteer Fireman with Roslyn Highlands Fire Dept. for 10 years? In those 1o years he became Captain hoping to one day do the same in the FDNY. He was involved in the rescue efforts at the Avianca plane crash in1992. He was very proud to be a Fireman and an American.

On November 2nd the firemen protested because they were pulled out of the recovery mission and bulldozers were brought in. I feel that the media is giving the public the wrong idea of why the firemen protested. I understand why they needed to do so. They, as I and all the families, want to bring the bodies of everyone they can find home for a proper burial. On September 14th at the FDNY family meeting, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Commissioner Tom von Essen promised over 800 family members of fallen firemen that their FDNY brothers would be down at Ground Zero to recover our husbands, their brothers, until the last brick was picked up. The firemen are not the only ones angry, the wives and families are angry, too. The people who are missing, firemen, police officers, Port Authority and civilians died so horribly. Our families are in so much pain and now the decision to dig our family members up with machines with no respect has only increased our pain. There are Indian burial grounds which are sacred that no one is permitted to touch. It's been 25 year since Vietnam and we still search for missing soldiers' remains. So why not keep searching for the men and women who became soldiers on the front line September 11th? Where will my children visit their Dad, the City dump? When you stood at Ground Zero with the firemen you said, "I can hear you and the world hears you." Let them hear us now. We need to at least try to recover our loved ones’ bodies. You wore a FDNY sweatshirt at the first World Series game with your name on it. I believe that was a show of support for the now FDNY. Please show your support now to the FDNY. They need it now more then ever. You said they were making the world proud but after November 2nd's protest and falling out with the police I hope that still stands. You told them to be strong and they have –but without your support and especially the Mayor of New York, they feel alone.

The FDNY is a family. Without them I wouldn’t have made it through the last two months. They have loved me, supported me, played with my children, driven me to the memorials for many of our lost men, picked up my funeral dress from the store, fixed my roof, sat with me keeping hope for the first week at the firehouse, bought presents for my son on his birthday October 16th, helped with paperwork and just all around been there for me. I love them. They are my family. The firemen’s wives help each other through this. At memorial services we sit together and share prayers, tears, tissues and feelings. I will have a connection with them forever. In my heart they are all my hero. Let the world know I look up to the Fire Department with pride and respect and can truthfully say my husband had-the best job in the world and I'm proud of him. Please help me try and bring the remains of my husband home and not just thrown away. I want to be able to say that The United States government didn't let me down a second time, the first time for allowing such people into our country and the second time allowing people to disrespect the body of my hero husband. . On your visit to New York you stated, "Out of the rubble and ash and ugliness there is a lot good!” Please allow the firemen to be remembered for that and nothing else but good men “Heroes"!

There is a Memorial Service schedule on November 18th. I know you were invited and I hope you will be able to attend. If you come, maybe you could recognize the importance of what the firemen have done and continue to do for the devastated families. Because of the recent change in the method of recovery I want you to be aware that the families are considering a boycott of the ceremony. Maybe you could make it possible for the FDNY to go back to recover as many bodies as they can physically find. I think you have done a great job leading our country so far. I hope you make a difference so that we don't have another terrorist attack ever again. Please do not let my husband have been murdered for no reason.
I don't know if my letter will reach you, but I want you to know that I tried my best to make a difference. I am sending copies in all major New York City newspapers.

Sincerely, a devastated American,

Erika Ann Haub
Wife of Firefighter Michael Helmut Haub
Ladder 4, Badge #-1695

[E40FDNYL35]

November 2, 2001
Dear Mayor Guillani,

This morning 16 families from Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 and one family from Ladder 105 went to ground Zero to have a prayer service on All Souls Day for our missing loved ones. Earlier on the news we were informed that you had decided to curtail the rescue effort and permit only 25 firefighters and police officers instead of 100 to search.

I have attended 12 memorial services so far. At each one either you or one of your representatives were present. Your message was that the City would always remember the brave men that lost their lives saving others. Did you mean that the City would remember for 53 days? Did you mean to say that the men who lost their lives were only heroes for the first 53 days? Did you mean to say the Yankees are obviously more important than the 343 "heroes" that lost their fives and now it is time to "move on" "Return to Normalcy" and "spend money on shopping" to improve the economy? When you spoke you sounded so sincere. Was that just another political ploy on your part to fool the masses into thinking that you cared about all the lives that have been lost and the families whose lives will never be "back to normal."
I am only a private citizen. I am a retired teacher. (Everyone knows how much you despise NYC teachers.) I gave the City 27 years of service. My husband is a retired Deputy Chief of the FDNY. He gave the City 40+ years of service. We are well aware that we are not politically in the right "circles." However, I can't help but wonder how the rescue efforts would have gone IF your son was among the missing. Would you have curtailed work after 53 days if your son had not been found? Do you have a double standard, one for "special" friends and one for the general public?
Today was a day to cry and pray and hug each other in our profound grief. My prayer for you Mr. Mayor is that you never experience such loss. I am certain however, that if you did you would continue with vigor, and vigilance and perseverance until your loved one was found.
Not understanding the firefighters who have been at ground zero for the past 7 weeks and their desire to continue to search only demonstrates you callousness and indifference and contempt for the civil servants of New York City. I sincerely hope that your "confidants" will convince you that "You are only as good as your last action." Your current action will help the world see the true Rudolph Guilliani. It is not a pretty picture.
Sincerely,

Maureen Santora
Mother of Christopher Santora (age 23)
Engine 54
Badge 3041

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Thank you Eng40FDNYL35