GROUND ZERO GATHERING REGULAR FOLKS MAKE LASTING, EMOTIONAL CONNECTION.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - The Flight Across America ended the way it should have Sunday. No politicians, no dignitaries and no long-winded speeches. Just regular people from every state in the country taking time off from their jobs this past week to fly across America to bring their state flags to ground zero and present them to just regular New York people who still carry the scars from Sept. 11. Just men like Vince Corrado, a construction worker from Dayton, Ohio Dayton is a city in southwestern Ohio, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Montgomery County. As of the 2005 census estimate, the population of Dayton was 158,873. , handing a special shirt and cap from his home state to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Firefighter Bob Schuff, and being too choked up to say anything but ``thank you'' before walking away in tears. Schuff understood. ``The anniversary of 9-11 is bringing a lot of emotion back for many people who have been coming by our firehouse to visit and look at our memorial wall,'' said Schuff, a firefighter in Ladder Company n. 1. Same as hook-and-ladder company, hook-and-ladder truck. 4, which lost 17 men in the World Trade Center terrorist attack. ``They get pretty teary-eyed, and I can understand it,'' the big, burly firefighter said, watching this tough construction worker walk off in tears. ``We all still get emotional about it.'' It was just San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. elementary school elementary school: see school. teacher Maria Lippi Schwartz, a native-born Hawaiian presenting the Hawaiian state flag to Denise Cross and Mary Shepard Mary Shepard (1909 - 2000) was an English illustrator, most well known for her illustrations of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins. She was the daughter of E. H. Shepard, also an illustrator of children's literature including the works of A. A. , the daughters of New York City Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Cross, who died at ground zero. His body was recovered on the seventh day. Norman Schwartz, a Calabasas attorney and Maria's father-in-law, flew the Hawaiian flag across the country this week after it was sent to him by Maria's parents, Bob and Virginia Lippi, who received it in a special ceremony in Hawaii last month. ``I am truly honored to present this flag, which began its journey on the USS Arizona USS Arizona has been the name of three ships of the United States Navy. The first two ships predate both the territory and state of Arizona, but within the region of northern Mexico known as la Pimería Alta in Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, land-locked harbor, on the southern coast of Oahu island, Hawaii, W of Honolulu; one of the largest and best natural harbors in the E Pacific Ocean. In the vicinity are many U.S. military installations, including the chief U.S. - linking the 'Day of Infamy' to ground zero,'' Maria said, as her 11-week-old baby daughter, Christine, slept cradled in her arms. I didn't know I would cry when I gave it to them, but it was just so emotional,'' Maria said later. It was emotional for everyone, from silver-haired grandmothers to burly Port Authority officers and New York City police and fighters who attended the flag presentation ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid United States Navy Four United States Navy ships have been named USS Intrepid, signifying a willingness to go into danger to achieve the goal.
Walking in the crowd, unrecognized by all but a few people, was a young man who truly symbolized what this historic Flight Across America was really about this week. The unbroken American spirit. His name is Erik Lindbergh, and he is the grandson of aviator Charles Lindbergh, who flew the Spirit of Saint Louis across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in 1927 and put aviation on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Last Sept. 11, aviation was again on the front page, but people were cursing it. ``I needed to be here with these pilots to show the world spirit is alive and well again here in New York,'' said Lindbergh, who retraced his grandfather's historic flight last May. Lindbergh said that after Sept. 11 he almost didn't go, but everyone from President George W. Bush to his friends in Seattle said he had to make the flight because the country needed the Lindbergh spirit again desperately. ``But that trip, like this Flight Across America, became bigger than just one man or a few pilots,'' Lindbergh said. ``It represented the spirit of the whole country. People came out and helped me just like they've helped these pilots every mile on their journey. We were flying for the whole country.'' Moorpark pilot John Martins, who presented the people of New York with the California state flag, saw the truth of Lindbergh's words first-hand this week. ``I didn't pay for fuel or food once coming across the country because people wouldn't let me when they found out what we were doing,'' said Martins, who was joined at the ceremony Sunday by his wife, Rose, and their three sons, who will fly back to California with their dad. Joking around, Martins said that this may have been the cheapest coast-to-coast trip in aviation history. Laughing, all the pilots agreed. Whatever state they landed in this past week on their flight East, people wanted to so something, anything, for these average Joes and Janes taking a few weeks off from work to deliver a message to the world from the rest of us. The American spirit is back. We'll never forget Sept. 11 or the people who died then. Earlier in the day, the pilots flew their planes in formation over ground zero and the experience was summed up best by Corrado, the construction worker. ``You know you have to concentrate on your flying for safety, but it's still incredibly emotional flying down the Hudson River, over ground zero, and past the lady,'' he said. The lady - the Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom . Yes it was an incredible experience - one that those of us to have taken part in this historic Flight Across America will never forget. From a single American flag in an old strip-mining field in Shanksville, Pa., where 40 brave passengers fought the terrorists on UAL UAL United Airlines (ICAO code) UAL Unified Accelerator Library (Brookhaven National Laboratory) UAL User Account Lockdown UAL User Access Layer UAL Universal Auxiliary Language UAL User Agent Layer 93, to a touching people's memorial on a grassy knoll outside the heavily guarded Pentagon, to the stark reality of ground zero, it's burnt into the nation's soul. We won't forget, not now, not ever. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Pilot John Martina presents the California flag to the people of New York during a shipboard ship·board n. 1. The condition of being aboard a ship: on shipboard. 2. Archaic The side of a ship. adj. ceremony Sunday. (2) Erik Lindbergh, grandson of aviator Charles Lindbergh, shares his flying experiences with pilots John Martina, left, and Norman Schwartz, right, and Maria Schwartz aboard the USS Intrepid. Stuart Ramson/Associated Press |
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