World Trade Center

Ten years ago, then-President George W. Bush held up the badge of George Howard, a police officer who died at the World Trade Center, during a session of Congress. The badge, Bush said, was "a reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end. " This year, the memory of that same officer - via his family - will leave another reminder in Huntington Beach. The city's police and fire associations have facilitated the delivery of two steel girders from the World Trade Center and plan to convert them to a 9/11 memorial outside City Hall.

Shaina Maginot was 5 years old the day her world changed. In the early morning of Sept. 11, 2001 the young girl sat in front of the television and watched with her parents as airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. On Monday, Shaina and a handful of Harbour View Elementary School students shared their memories during a remembrance ceremony held at the school in honor of the fifth anniversary of the terrorists attacks. In a poem she read at the assembly, fifth-grader Shaina described what it was like watching the events unfold before here thousands of miles away.

Patrick Vogel never saw the World Trade Center outside of photographs, and he didn't know anyone who died on9/11. But as far as the Long Beach artist is concerned, he has a connection - a slight, geographical one - to the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Before hijackers took over the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, all three were destined to land in Los Angeles, not far from Huntington Beach, where Vogel has been selected to design a 9/11 memorial over the next year and a half.

Suzie Harrison On Monday morning, the skies in Huntington Beach were as blue as they were in New York the moment before the South Tower of the World Trade Center was hit by an airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, surviving firefighter Bob Senn told Spring View Middle students during an assembly. Senn, one of 37 New York firefighters who have pledged to travel the country to speak about that day, came to Southern California to share his story. Senn spoke to firefighters in Redondo Beach, where 13-year-old Arin Fazio's father heard him speak and was deeply moved.

A Huntington Beach man was arrested at his home Friday morning, facing accusations that he impersonated a paramedic at major disaster scenes across America, from the World Trade Center to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dean. Authorities say James Charles Campbell, 44, is a convicted felon who used stolen Los Angeles County Fire Department equipment to pretend to be a paramedic captain who flew helicopters for the department. Authorities found the equipment, as well as a handgun and shotgun, in Campbell’s house while serving a search warrant, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

All I could hear was the sound of perpetually falling water. I stood recently in the shadow of the Freedom Tower under construction, and faced one of the two parapets with names of the dead etched in bronze. Not even the rattle of jackhammers in the background could interrupt this moment for me. I was gazing down at a square hole in the ground from which the second of the twin towers had soared. The memorial parapet framed the footprint of the 110-story building formerly known as 2 World Trade Center, or the south tower.

Mike Sciacca Students at Edison High School, like most of the world, sat in stunned disbelief on that historic morning of Sept. 11, as they watched reports of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Like many others, the associated student body wondered how it could help the victims of these disasters. The students decided to organize a couple of fund-raising events. Their first event was held last Wednesday. The group set up two, five-gallon water bottles on tables at the main entrance to the school.

o7 The Independent visited Eader Elementary School in Huntington Beach and asked kids, "What's the most interesting thing you've learned in school so far this year?"f7 "The diseases that animals, like rabbits and deer, can give to people. They can bite you and give you big sores." Stephanie Moss, 10 "Our class watched a film about a Japanese girl that had radiation burns on her face. No doctors could treat her in Japan, so she moved to the U.S. where she had family.

Michele Marr "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. For God is kind to the unthankful and evil." -- Jesus (Luke 6:27-35) Last month I watched "9/11," the story of Gedeon and Jules Naudet who were in Manhattan making a film about Engine 7, Ladder 1 that morning. Jules shot the only known footage of the first plane flying into the World Trade Center. For the first time since that Tuesday in September I watched those astonishing moments unfold again.

Opening earlier this year to much fanfare and reminiscing about "the day that will live in infamy," the movie Pearl Harbor showed the fear, the surprise and the bravery that characterized Dec. 7, 1941. It reminded our country of the heights we rose to in the days, months and years following the attack. Those men and women, since dubbed The Greatest Generation, charged through the Pacific and onto the beaches of Normandy and then helped lead this country to world prominence.

The twin towers will soon stand in Huntington Beach. With a little luck and a lot more money, this Sept. 11 will see the unveiling of a remarkable sculpture in front of City Hall. It will feature metallic, exact scale replicas of the World Trade Center towers each standing 9 feet tall. Created by the renowned local metal artist Patrick Vogel, a small-scale replica of it was on display last Sunday night at the Hyatt Regency where the Building to Remember Gala took place. Building to Remember was formed to help fund the memorial and the event on Saturday went a long way in helping to raise the $200,000 needed to complete the project.

Patrick Vogel never saw the World Trade Center outside of photographs, and he didn't know anyone who died on9/11. But as far as the Long Beach artist is concerned, he has a connection - a slight, geographical one - to the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Before hijackers took over the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, all three were destined to land in Los Angeles, not far from Huntington Beach, where Vogel has been selected to design a 9/11 memorial over the next year and a half.

All I could hear was the sound of perpetually falling water. I stood recently in the shadow of the Freedom Tower under construction, and faced one of the two parapets with names of the dead etched in bronze. Not even the rattle of jackhammers in the background could interrupt this moment for me. I was gazing down at a square hole in the ground from which the second of the twin towers had soared. The memorial parapet framed the footprint of the 110-story building formerly known as 2 World Trade Center, or the south tower.

Ten years ago, then-President George W. Bush held up the badge of George Howard, a police officer who died at the World Trade Center, during a session of Congress. The badge, Bush said, was "a reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end. " This year, the memory of that same officer - via his family - will leave another reminder in Huntington Beach. The city's police and fire associations have facilitated the delivery of two steel girders from the World Trade Center and plan to convert them to a 9/11 memorial outside City Hall.

While many people around the world celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden this week, Cecil Birnbaum found himself in a contemplative frame of mind. Birnbaum, the chaplain of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11548 in Huntington Beach, could easily remember his thoughts from Sept. 11, 2001. He recalled turning on the TV and thinking the first plane had struck the World Trade Center by accident, then discovering with shock that that wasn't the case. When news broke late Sunday that a team of Navy SEALs had tracked down and killed bin Laden at a complex in Pakistan, Birnbaum didn't join others in exulting, at least outwardly.

Everyone undoubtedly remembers where they were and how they heard about the despicable attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon seven years ago today. The first plane crashed into the World Trade Center at 8:45 a.m. EST. It was a quarter to six here on the West Coast, and Vic and I were still sleeping. My brother George called from Indiana as soon as he heard the news. At first it looked like a horrible accident, but a second plane crashed 18 minutes later. By 9:45 am, a third plane crashed into a helicopter landing pad and careened into the Pentagon.

When most Americans think of Memorial Day, they tend to think of the unofficial start of summer, backyard barbecues and a day off from work. But for many families in Orange County and across the nation, Memorial Day will have a deeply personal meaning this year and in the years to come. This is why when I think of Memorial Day, one thing comes to mind—sacrifice. It is this sacrifice which makes me so appreciative of what our country has been able to achieve. I am thankful for the men and women who spend every day of their lives defending our freedom and democracy both here in the United States and abroad.

A Huntington Beach man was arrested at his home Friday morning, facing accusations that he impersonated a paramedic at major disaster scenes across America, from the World Trade Center to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dean. Authorities say James Charles Campbell, 44, is a convicted felon who used stolen Los Angeles County Fire Department equipment to pretend to be a paramedic captain who flew helicopters for the department. Authorities found the equipment, as well as a handgun and shotgun, in Campbell’s house while serving a search warrant, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Surely, the 160-year-old Presbyterian Publishing Corp. must have foreseen it was rushing in where angels fear to tread when it decided to publish David Ray Griffin's "Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action" under its venerable imprint Westminster John Knox Press. The book bluntly accuses the Bush administration of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Last month at the Religion Newswriters Assn. conference in Salt Lake City, I picked up a copy of Griffin's book from its publisher.

Everyone stopped when Andy Scott played "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes. For a few moments Huntington Beach's pier — usually buzzing with people, tourists and the surfers — was at a standstill Monday at the ceremony to honor those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. The mood was somber, marked with tears and a resolve to "never forget" at a Patriot Day ceremony held at Pier Plaza, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. "We are here to pay tribute to free people, freedom, and the United States and the American way of life," said Ned Metsch, commander of the American Legion Post 133. Mayor Dave Sullivan welcomed about 200 people to the event, saying Sept.