‘Gray People Looking for Signs of Light’
I hope you saw what I saw. Out of the dust and rubble arose a people shrouded in ashes. From ashes to ashes, we come. Barely a sign of race, or gender, or religion. Just gray people looking for signs of light in the darkness.
If we are to see the hope in the midst of indescribable tragedy, let us remember that our strength is in our oneness. And in letting love be our guide, not only in tragedy but in our everyday lives. Knowing that our differences only helped us to envision that which has made America great.
Only when we see the face of God in each person can we truly receive the gift that he or she brings. Then, as a nation, we shall rise triumphant.
Janine Murray
Riverside
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I knew none of the people listed among “The Dead and Missing” (Sept. 16). I knew all of them.
Wendy A. Robinson
Saugus
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Thank you for your beautiful and moving rendering of the story of Harry Ramos and his colleagues (“You’re on the 87th Floor, and Something’s Terribly Wrong . . . ,” Sept. 16). I would offer only two corrections: that at the moment when such a man surrendered up his life so that love itself could be enfleshed, heroism was transcended and became sanctity. And that in the place where this occurred, there was no darkness.
Ellen Michiel
Woodland Hills
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Just when you think there are no more tears left to cry, this gripping tale of heroism and honor renews the sorrow and yet lifts our hopes simultaneously. A candle will be in the window for you tonight, Harry Ramos.
Deborah Chandler
Upland
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America’s greatness is not in its tall buildings, a white house or a pentagon structure. Nor is America’s greatness in its military power, with the ability to inflict enormous damage and revenge for senseless carnage. Its greatness lies in the people, in the unity and oneness that occurred in a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds and faiths who resolved together not to be beaten--ordinary citizens on United Airlines Flight 93, out of Newark, who became one and took back their freedom when it was encroached on by a group of fanatics who do not understand what makes America great.
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Denise Baird Schwartz
Studio City
I’ve been hearing that it’s a shame how it has taken something as tragic as the World Trade Center catastrophe to bring us together as a nation.
It is my hope that our greatness will prove to be that, while not walking in lock-step in our daily lives, we have the strength and character to come together in a time of crisis.
It is the hallmark of totalitarianism that people must dedicate themselves to their nation’s life rather than their own lives. Let us never minimize the value we place in celebrating our individuality. Our unity will be all the stronger for it.
Robert Silver
Los Angeles