SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

The National Herald presents its special edition dedicated

to September 11, 2001.

The National Heraldwww.thenationalherald.com100

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By Theodore Kalmoukos

One of the people wholived very close to theWorld Trade Centeron September 11,

2001 was the leader of ourGreek Orthodox Church inAmerica, Archbishop Demetrios.

In the ensuing days, weeks,months… and beyond, the arch-bishop became a source of com-fort to those who lost their lovedones in that horrific tragedy.

Demetrios remembers thedetails quite vividly, and heshares those memories with TheNational Herald.

“We were in Boston the daybefore, September 10, for theConstantine G. KaramanlisChair in Hellenic and EuropeanStudies at The Fletcher Schoolof Law and Diplomacy at TuftsUniversity,” the archbishop be-gan.

“Archdeacon Panteleimonand Michael Jaharis were thereas well. We spent the night inBoston, and in the morning wewent down to the hotel lobbyto check out. That’s when wesaw on the television screen that

one of the Twin Towers was onfire. ‘Was this an accident?’ wethought. But before we had achance to ponder, a secondplane hit the other Tower.Clearly, this was a terrorist at-tack. And the airport was shutdown.

“Mr. Jaharis suggested thatwe drive to New York but theroads were closed. He offeredhis home to Connecticut as aplace to sleep for the night, andthe next day, with assistanceand advice from the police, wewere able to make our way backto New York and headedstraight to Ground Zero, alongwith Fr. Alexander Karloutsos.

We were able to have a front-line view of the rubble that wasonce the Twin towers.

I remember it being a sunnyday, but there was a blur in theair, a peculiar burning smell,and even a burning taste in ourmouth of the mixture of dust,cement, and perhaps remnantsof the three thousand bodies –all having been pulverized.”

Demetrios continued: “Webegan a Trisagion, at whichpoint a group of soldiers arrived.One approached me and askedif we would join them for one,big prayer, and we did. Wehoped that we would be able tosave some of the men andwomen who had been inside theTwin Towers – what we did notknow at the time is that theywere all dead.”

The archbishop was then ap-proached by Police LieutenantJohn Kassimatis, injured andbloodied from his attempts torescue any survivors.

He said to Demetrios: “I’vebeen searching all night for mybrother-in-law, who surely mustbe dead.”

The archbishop, in turn,asked: “How are you so certainhe is dead?”

To which Kassimatis replied:“Because he never would haveleft the building until he madesure every single person in therehad evacuated, and since weknow that not everyone had

evacuated, then surely he musthave remained inside as well.”

Meanwhile, Demetrios con-tinued, “we knew that our ownSt. Nicholas Church was com-pletely destroyed as well. Hewas asked by a journalistwhether the horror and devas-tation made his lose his faith inGod, to which Demetriosreplied: “as a child I experiencedthe German occupation andbombing, seeing corpses in thestreet, and so I am familiar withthis terrible image of massdeath. As I watch this explosionof hatred, I see the rescue effortsand the support, and so I alsosee an explosion of live, and thisis our hope.”

A CHANGED AMERICADemetrios shared his own

personal experience with post-9/11 America, particularly interms of a heightened emphasison security.

“Thanks to Mr. Kassimatis,when I travel, I usually don’thave to go through all of the se-curity clearances that everyoneelse does. And I have yet to beasked to remove my Raso (reli-gious garb). But I do have totake off my engolpion – medal-lion, because it contains metal.

“We also see heightened se-curity at bridges, subway sta-tions, etc., and we pray to Godnot to allow another attack tohappen, though such a possibil-ity is not out of the question.”

BUSH AT GROUND ZEROPresident Bush visited

Ground Zero on September 14,on which the Greek OrthodoxCelebrate Tou Stavrou – theFeast of the Cross. Demetrios re-turned, and leaders of variousother religions were there,awaiting the president. It was arainy day, and so the moundsand mounds of ashes hadturned everything into blackmud.

“There were lines of policeofficers and firefighters, tough,brave, men, but they were somoved by the experience they

were in tears,” Demetrios said. “The crowd had squeezed

everyone so tightly, that Presi-dent Bush had room only tostand on one leg. I said: ‘canyou please make some room sothat the president can walk ontwo legs?’ “I also asked that bull-dozers please not be used to ex-cavate the site where the St.Nicholas Church building crum-bled, as there were presumablysacred items amid the rubble.‘Do not worry,’ I was told.

‘The excavation will betreated with the care given toarchaeological sites.’ Sureenough, the work was donewith brush and hammer, manu-ally, not with bulldozers. Butnothing was recovered.”

NEW CHURCHArchbishop Demetrios de-

scribed the years of difficultiesinvolved in the reconstructionof the St. Nicholas Church,which TNH has reported in de-tail at every turn.

But on this day, he alsolooked forward, emphasizingthat reconstruction of theChurch was moving forward asplanned.

“They will proceed quickly,”he said. “It should be completedin about 18 months.”

9/11/2001: 14 Years Later2 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

The National HeraldA weekly publication of the NATIONAL HERALD, INC.

(ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΡΥΞ),reporting the news andaddressing the issues of

paramount interest to the GreekAmerican community of theUnited States of America.

Publisher-Editor Antonis H. Diamataris

Assistant to Publisher, AdvertisingVeta H. Diamataris

PapadopoulosSpecial Section EditorConstantinos E. Scaros

Production Manager Chrysoula Karametros

37-10 30th Street, LIC, NY 11101-2614Tel: (718)784-5255

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Tel: 011.30.210.3614.598 • Fax: 011.30.210.3643.776e-mail: athens@ekirikas.com

By Constantinos E. Scaros

A few days ago wehonored the 14thanniversary of September11, 2001, often simplycalled September 11 oreven more simply, 9/11.With the exception of July4, no other date inAmerican history is asreadily identifiable. NotFebruary 12 (Lincoln’sbirthday), not February 22(Washington’s birthday),not April 4 (when, in 1968,Martin Luther King wasassassinated), and notJune 6 (D-Day, WWII,1944). Not August 24 (in1814, when the Britishinvaded and burnedWashington, DC – causingPresident and First LadyJames and Dolley Madisonto flee the White House fortheir lives, marking thatthe most perilous attackon U.S. soil in our nation’shistory. And not November22 (1963, when John F.Kennedy wasassassinated). Perhapsonly December 7 (1941,the day of the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor inHawaii) comes close to9/11 as an identifiabledate of infamy.For those who lost lovedones – family, friends,coworkers – that day,including many within ourown Greek-Americancommunity, the memoriesof that horrific day havenot faded. But for themajority of Americans, thequestion remains: inanother 14 years, will“9/11” still meansomething important?Particularly to youngAmericans, some of whomwere not even born in2001? Does “September 11”resonate because it wasthe most recent of ourAmerican tragedies, orbecause it is among themost profound?We hope that with thisspecial edition, we cancontribute to the spirit ofthe two words most closelyassociated with September11, 2001: “Never forget.”

Sept. 11, 2001 –Sept. 11, 2015

Archbishop Demetrios Shares His Memories of 9/11

ABOVE and BELOW LEFT: Archbishop Demetrios provides com-fort the shocked and the grief-stricken, both military and civil-ian. BELOW: Reconstruction of St. Nicholas is underway (TOP);how it will look (MIDDLE) and how it looked before 9/11(BOTTOM).

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In rememberance of September 11 14 years later we pay tribute to our loved ones who perished. We will never forget!

Let us see St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church rise again

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Congratulations to Τhe National Herald for publishing a Special Issue dedicated

to the Church of St. Nicholas at Ground Zero and the memory of those who perished on 9/11.

September 11 has become another day of saluteto America and what it stands and to remember both

that day’s innocent victims and the heroeswho perished responding to the call

to assist their fellow citizens.

We also salute the members and leaders of St. Nicholas who have maintaine their parish and wish them the best

as construction has begun.

Gust C. Kraras, Group I, Reading, PAAndrew Mousalimas, Group IV, Oakland, CA

THE GREEK-AMERICAN VETERANS OF THEOFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES (OSS) OPERATIONAL GROUPS

9/11/2001: 14 Years LaterTHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 3

By Constantinos E. Scaros

I wrote the piece containedherein “Archie, the Meathead,and the American Flag,” a fewweeks after September 11,2001. It was, if memory servesme correct, the first op-ed pieceI ever wrote for The NationalHerald – and it was a few yearsbefore I began to work here (Isubmitted it as a guest colum-nist – it was published on Jan.12, 2002).

In that piece, I wondered:“Will our steadfast support ofour country’s foreign policy fadeonce again as this crisis wanes?Will we become dispassionateonce Osama bin Laden has beencaptured, killed, or declareddead, or once the Taliban andAl Qaeda have been destroyed?What will happen two, five, orten years from now, if our lead-ers determine that terrorism isagain sprouting in some otherarea of the world? Will we standunited as we did this time, orwill it take another horrific actto awaken the national con-sciousness?”

Well, it is now 14 years later,and in hindsight, we can answersome of those questions.

At that time, George W.Bush’s popularity soared to90%, a modern-day recordamong presidents, and so it ishard to believe that six yearslater his approval ratings plum-meted to an almost-all-time low,dragging down the entire Re-publican Party with him, to thepoint that the only surprise inthe election of 2008 was thatBarack Obama was able to de-feat Hillary Clinton for the De-mocratic nomination, not that aDemocrat would defeat a Re-publican in the general election.

Obama, of course, won thegeneral election and went on tolaunch a daring mission inwhich special forces killedOsama bin Laden. Obama’s useof military drones actually ex-ceeded the frequency imple-mented under the Bush-(Dick)Cheney-(Donald) Rumsfeldregime. Moreover, Obama ad-hered to the Bush timetablefrom withdrawing troops fromIraq, and committed additionalforces in Afghanistan, to thepoint where somewhere alongthe line those wars stopped be-ing Bush’s and became his own.

The ensuing decade-plusbrought more terrorist warn-ings, including failed attempts

aboard an airplane and at TimesSquare, instances of shootingsprees on U.S. soil by lone gun-men inspired by radical ji-hadists, and most poignantlyand painfully, an attack twoyears ago on April 15 at theBoston Marathon.

Power vacuums in the Mid-dle East led to the emergenceof ISIS, a group originally dis-missed as “the JV team” by Pres-ident Obama and now consid-ered a formidable foe thatwould take years to obliterate –even as a full commitment ofU.S. ground troops might getthe job done in a matter ofweeks, some contend – as wellas evidence of savvy social me-dia marketing by such terroristorganizations to attract new re-cruits.

“MUSLIM PROBLEM?”Turning to the present, the

next presidential election is 14months away, at which time thenation will choose a successorto President Obama who may,like him, resort to tough talkonly when every last shred ofdiplomacy and collegial dis-course has been exhausted, re-

exhausted, and exhausted yetsome more, or instead mighttake a “we’ve tried it the niceway, but no more Mr. Nice Guy”approach to foreign policy.

To that end, as recently as aweek ago the two national GOPfrontrunners, Donald Trumpand Dr. Ben Carson, were thefeatured attraction of virtuallyevery Sunday morning politicalshow, and the frenzy carriedover into the weekday eveningbroadcasts. “Would you supporta Muslim for president of theUnited States?” was the ques-tion, to which the crowded fieldof Republican hopefuls gavemixed answers, the most ab-solute coming from Dr. Carsonwho gave an unequivocal “ab-solutely not,” even though laterhe qualified it by reminding –correctly – that he had prefacedthat proclamation with thecaveat that as long as person’sfaith is not inconsistent with ourConstitution and our Americanprinciples, then faith should notmatter.

Trump, too, who justifiablyor not, is widely associated withintolerance, did not state oneway or the other whether hewould support a Muslim presi-dent, but made three declara-tions:

1) Most Muslims “are fabu-lous” as he told ABC’s GeorgeStephanopoulos (and repeatedsimilar statements on other net-works);

2) there is, nonetheless, a“Muslim problem” insofar asmost radical jihadists tend to beMuslims from the Middle East –Trump pointed out “it’s not peo-ple from Sweden” who blew upthe buildings or fled the UnitedStates after 9/11; and

3) to say that there is noMuslim problem might be polit-ically correct, but people wouldlaugh at him because theywould know it is not a truestatement.

A few days earlier, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed broughta homemade clock into school– only weeks after he began at-tending MacArthur High Schoolin Irving, TX. The problem was,the clock looked very much likea bomb. Teachers called the au-thorities and he was arrestedand led out in handcuffs. Ulti-mately, Ahmed was not charged,but the Council on American-Is-lamic Relations (CAIR) said: “I

Political Correctness and National Security: 14 Years after 9/11

The World Trade Center’s Twin Towers stood tall, until the morning of September 11, 2001.

The Freedom Tower is beautiful and stands even taller than the Twin Towers did, but it is noticeably different in appearance, astinging reminder of what happened to its predecessors. Continued on page 5

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ΜΙΛΑΜΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

The special issue dedicated to the Church of St. Nicholas and 9/11

marks the importance of both remembering

the past and building for the future.

Congratulationsto The National Herald for continuing

to serve the community and insuring

with respect to many issues that we never forget

and always look to the future.

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United we stand remembering, honoring and paying respect to all the Greek Americans and all others that we lost

We will never forget you

9/11/2001: 14 Years Later4 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

[In a moving speech heardaround the world that shortlythereafter propelled him to arecord-high 90% approval rating,President George W. Bush ad-dressed a joint session of Congresson September 20, 2001, nine daysafter 9/11. In one of the mostmemorable moments of theevening, the Republican Bush andSenate Majority Leader TomDaschle, a Democrat, political ri-vals ever since Bush was inaugu-rated eight months earlier, en-gaged in a spontaneous,emotional embrace – united bythe tragedy that befell theirbeloved nation. The speech byPresident Bush follows.]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. PresidentPro Tempore, members of Con-gress, and fellow Americans:

In the normal course ofevents, Presidents come to thischamber to report on the stateof the Union. Tonight, no suchreport is needed. It has alreadybeen delivered by the Americanpeople.

We have seen it in thecourage of passengers, whorushed terrorists to save otherson the ground -- passengers likean exceptional man named ToddBeamer. And would you pleasehelp me to welcome his wife,Lisa Beamer, here tonight. Wehave seen the state of our Unionin the endurance of rescuers,working past exhaustion. We'veseen the unfurling of flags, thelighting of candles, the giving ofblood, the saying of prayers --in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.We have seen the decency of aloving and giving people whohave made the grief of strangerstheir own. My fellow citizens,for the last nine days, the entireworld has seen for itself the stateof our Union -- and it is strong.

Tonight we are a countryawakened to danger and calledto defend freedom. Our grief hasturned to anger, and anger toresolution. Whether we bringour enemies to justice, or bringjustice to our enemies, justicewill be done. I thank the Con-gress for its leadership at suchan important time. All of Amer-ica was touched on the eveningof the tragedy to see Republicansand Democrats joined togetheron the steps of this Capitol,singing "God Bless America."And you did more than sing; youacted, by delivering 40 billiondollars to rebuild our communi-ties and meet the needs of ourmilitary. Speaker Hastert, Minor-ity Leader Gephardt, MajorityLeader Daschle, and SenatorLott, I thank you for your friend-ship, for your leadership, and foryour service to our country. Andon behalf of the American peo-ple, I thank the world for its out-pouring of support. America willnever forget the sounds of ourNational Anthem playing atBuckingham Palace, on thestreets of Paris, and at Berlin'sBrandenburg Gate.

We will not forget South Ko-rean children gathering to prayoutside our embassy in Seoul, orthe prayers of sympathy offeredat a mosque in Cairo. We will notforget moments of silence anddays of mourning in Australiaand Africa and Latin America.Nor will we forget the citizens of80 other nations who died withour own: dozens of Pakistanis;more than 130 Israelis; morethan 250 citizens of India; menand women from El Salvador,Iran, Mexico, and Japan; andhundreds of British citizens.America has no truer friend thanGreat Britain. Once again, we arejoined together in a great cause -- so honored the British PrimeMinister has crossed an ocean toshow his unity with America.Thank you for coming, friend.

On September the 11th, ene-mies of freedom committed anact of war against our country.

Americans have known wars --but for the past 136 years, theyhave been wars on foreign soil,except for one Sunday in 1941.Americans have known the casu-alties of war -- but not at the cen-ter of a great city on a peacefulmorning. Americans have knownsurprise attacks -- but never be-fore on thousands of civilians. Allof this was brought upon us in asingle day -- and night fell on adifferent world, a world wherefreedom itself is under attack.Americans have many questionstonight. Americans are asking:Who attacked our country? Theevidence we have gathered allpoints to a collection of looselyaffiliated terrorist organizationsknown as al Qaeda. They aresome of the murderers indictedfor bombing American embassiesin Tanzania and Kenya, and re-sponsible for bombing the USSCole. Al Qaeda is to terror whatthe mafia is to crime. But its goalis not making money; its goal isremaking the world -- and im-posing its radical beliefs on peo-ple everywhere.

The terrorists practice a fringeform of Islamic extremism thathas been rejected by Muslimscholars and the vast majority ofMuslim clerics, a fringe move-ment that perverts the peacefulteachings of Islam. The terrorists'directive commands them to killChristians and Jews, to kill allAmericans, and make no distinc-tions among military and civil-ians, including women and chil-dren. This group and its leader --a person named Usama binLaden -- are linked to many otherorganizations in different coun-tries, including the Egyptian Is-lamic Jihad and the IslamicMovement of Uzbekistan. Thereare thousands of these terroristsin more than 60 countries. Theyare recruited from their own na-tions and neighborhoods andbrought to camps in places likeAfghanistan, where they aretrained in the tactics of terror.They are sent back to their homesor sent to hide in countriesaround the world to plot evil anddestruction.

The leadership of al Qaedahas great influence inAfghanistan and supports the Tal-iban regime in controlling mostof that country. In Afghanistan,we see al Qaeda's vision for theworld. Afghanistan's people havebeen brutalized; many are starv-ing and many have fled. Womenare not allowed to attend school.You can be jailed for owning atelevision. Religion can be prac-ticed only as their leaders dictate.A man can be jailed inAfghanistan if his beard is notlong enough.

The United States respects thepeople of Afghanistan. After all,we are currently its largest sourceof humanitarian aid; but we con-demn the Taliban regime. It isnot only repressing its own peo-ple, it is threatening peopleeverywhere by sponsoring andsheltering and supplying terror-ists. By aiding and abetting mur-der, the Taliban regime is com-mitting murder.

And tonight, the United Statesof America makes the followingdemands on the Taliban: Deliverto United States authorities allthe leaders of al Qaeda who hidein your land. Release all foreignnationals, including American cit-izens, you have unjustly impris-oned. Protect foreign journalists,diplomats, and aid workers inyour country. Close immediatelyand permanently every terroristtraining camp in Afghanistan,and hand over every terrorist,and every person in their supportstructure, to appropriate author-ities. Give the United States fullaccess to terrorist training camps,so we can make sure they are nolonger operating. These demandsare not open to negotiation ordiscussion. The Taliban must act,

and act immediately. They willhand over the terrorists, or theywill share in their fate.

I also want to speak tonightdirectly to Muslims throughoutthe world. We respect your faith.It's practiced freely by many mil-lions of Americans, and by mil-lions more in countries thatAmerica counts as friends. Itsteachings are good and peaceful,and those who commit evil in thename of Allah blaspheme thename of Allah. The terrorists aretraitors to their own faith, trying,in effect, to hijack Islam itself.The enemy of America is not ourmany Muslim friends; it is notour many Arab friends. Our en-emy is a radical network of ter-rorists, and every governmentthat supports them. Our war onterror begins with al Qaeda, butit does not end there. It will notend until every terrorist group of

global reach has been found,stopped, and defeated.

Americans are asking, why dothey hate us? They hate whatthey see right here in this cham-ber -- a democratically electedgovernment. Their leaders areself-appointed. They hate ourfreedoms -- our freedom of reli-gion, our freedom of speech, ourfreedom to vote and assembleand disagree with each other.They want to overthrow existinggovernments in many Muslimcountries, such as Egypt, SaudiArabia, and Jordan. They wantto drive Israel out of the MiddleEast. They want to drive Chris-tians and Jews out of vast regionsof Asia and Africa. These terror-ists kill not merely to end lives,but to disrupt and end a way oflife. With every atrocity, theyhope that America grows fearful,retreating from the world andforsaking our friends. They standagainst us, because we stand intheir way.

We are not deceived by theirpretenses to piety. We have seentheir kind before. They are theheirs of all the murderous ide-ologies of the 20th century. Bysacrificing human life to servetheir radical visions -- by aban-doning every value except thewill to power -- they follow in thepath of fascism, Nazism, and to-talitarianism. And they will fol-low that path all the way, towhere it ends: in history's un-marked grave of discarded lies.Americans are asking: How willwe fight and win this war? Wewill direct every resource at ourcommand -- every means ofdiplomacy, every tool of intelli-gence, every instrument of lawenforcement, every financial in-fluence, and every necessaryweapon of war -- to the disrup-tion and to the defeat of theglobal terror network.

Now this war will not be likethe war against Iraq a decadeago, with a decisive liberation ofterritory and a swift conclusion.

It will not look like the air warabove Kosovo two years ago,where no ground troops wereused and not a single Americanwas lost in combat. Our responseinvolves far more than instant re-taliation and isolated strikes.Americans should not expect onebattle, but a lengthy campaign,unlike any other we have everseen. It may include dramaticstrikes, visible on TV, and covertoperations, secret even in suc-cess. We will starve terrorists offunding, turn them one againstanother, drive them from placeto place, until there is no refugeor no rest. And we will pursuenations that provide aid or safehaven to terrorism. Every nation,in every region, now has a deci-sion to make. Either you are withus, or you are with the terrorists.From this day forward, any na-tion that continues to harbor or

support terrorism will be re-garded by the United States as ahostile regime.

Our nation has been put onnotice: We're not immune fromattack. We will take defensivemeasures against terrorism toprotect Americans. Today, dozensof federal departments and agen-cies, as well as state and localgovernments, have responsibili-ties affecting homeland security.These efforts must be coordi-nated at the highest level. Sotonight, I announce the creationof a Cabinet-level position report-ing directly to me -- the Office ofHomeland Security. And tonightI also announce a distinguishedAmerican to lead this effort, tostrengthen American security: amilitary veteran, an effective gov-ernor, a true patriot, a trustedfriend -- Pennsylvania's TomRidge. He will lead, oversee, andcoordinate a comprehensive na-tional strategy to safeguard ourcountry against terrorism, and re-spond to any attacks that maycome.

These measures are essential.But the only way to defeat ter-rorism as a threat to our way oflife is to stop it, eliminate it, anddestroy it where it grows. Manywill be involved in this effort,from FBI agents to intelligenceoperatives to the reservists wehave called to active duty. All de-serve our thanks, and all haveour prayers. And tonight, a fewmiles from the damaged Penta-gon, I have a message for ourmilitary: Be ready. I've called theArmed Forces to alert, and thereis a reason. The hour is comingwhen America will act, and youwill make us proud. This is not,however, just America's fight.And what is at stake is not justAmerica's freedom. This is theworld's fight. This is civilization'sfight. This is the fight of all whobelieve in progress and pluralism,tolerance and freedom.

We ask every nation to joinus. We will ask, and we will need,

the help of police forces, intelli-gence services, and banking sys-tems around the world. TheUnited States is grateful thatmany nations and many interna-tional organizations have alreadyresponded -- with sympathy andwith support. Nations from LatinAmerica, to Asia, to Africa, to Eu-rope, to the Islamic world. Per-haps the NATO Charter reflectsbest the attitude of the world: Anattack on one is an attack on all.The civilized world is rallying toAmerica's side. They understandthat if this terror goes unpun-ished, their own cities, their owncitizens may be next. Terror,unanswered, can not only bringdown buildings, it can threatenthe stability of legitimate govern-ments. And you know what?We're not going to allow it.

Americans are asking: Whatis expected of us? I ask you to

live your lives, and hug your chil-dren. I know many citizens havefears tonight, and I ask you to becalm and resolute, even in theface of a continuing threat. I askyou to uphold the values ofAmerica, and remember why somany have come here. We are ina fight for our principles, and ourfirst responsibility is to live bythem. No one should be singledout for unfair treatment or un-kind words because of their eth-nic background or religious faith.I ask you to continue to supportthe victims of this tragedy withyour contributions. Those whowant to give can go to a centralsource of information, libertyu-nites.org, to find the names ofgroups providing direct help inNew York, Pennsylvania, and Vir-ginia.

The thousands of FBI agentswho are now at work in this in-vestigation may need your coop-eration, and I ask you to give it. Iask for your patience, with thedelays and inconveniences thatmay accompany tighter security;and for your patience in whatwill be a long struggle. I ask yourcontinued participation and con-fidence in the American econ-omy. Terrorists attacked a symbolof American prosperity. They didnot touch its source. America issuccessful because of the hardwork, and creativity, and enter-prise of our people. These werethe true strengths of our econ-omy before September 11th, andthey are our strengths today. And,finally, please continue prayingfor the victims of terror and theirfamilies, for those in uniform,and for our great country. Prayerhas comforted us in sorrow, andwill help strengthen us for thejourney ahead.

Tonight I thank my fellowAmericans for what you have al-ready done and for what you willdo. And ladies and gentlemen ofthe Congress, I thank you, theirrepresentatives, for what youhave already done and for what

we will do together. Tonight, weface new and sudden nationalchallenges. We will come to-gether to improve air safety, todramatically expand the numberof air marshals on domesticflights, and take new measuresto prevent hijacking. We willcome together to promote stabil-ity and keep our airlines flying,with direct assistance during thisemergency. We will come to-gether to give law enforcementthe additional tools it needs totrack down terror here at home.We will come together tostrengthen our intelligence capa-bilities to know the plans of ter-rorists before they act, and to findthem before they strike.

We will come together to takeactive steps that strengthenAmerica's economy, and put ourpeople back to work. Tonight wewelcome two leaders who em-body the extraordinary spirit ofall New Yorkers: GovernorGeorge Pataki, and MayorRudolph Giuliani. As a symbol ofAmerica's resolve, my adminis-tration will work with Congress,and these two leaders, to showthe world that we will rebuildNew York City.

After all that has just passed -- all the lives taken, and all thepossibilities and hopes that diedwith them -- it is natural to won-der if America's future is one offear. Some speak of an age ofterror. I know there are strugglesahead, and dangers to face. Butthis country will define our times,not be defined by them. As longas the United States of Americais determined and strong, thiswill not be an age of terror; thiswill be an age of liberty, here andacross the world.

Great harm has been done tous. We have suffered great loss.And in our grief and anger wehave found our mission and ourmoment. Freedom and fear areat war. The advance of humanfreedom -- the great achievementof our time, and the great hopeof every time -- now depends onus. Our nation, this generationwill lift a dark threat of violencefrom our people and our future.We will rally the world to thiscause by our efforts, by ourcourage. We will not tire, we willnot falter, and we will not fail.

It is my hope that in themonths and years ahead, life willreturn almost to normal. We'llgo back to our lives and routines,and that is good. Even grief re-cedes with time and grace. Butour resolve must not pass. Eachof us will remember what hap-pened that day, and to whom ithappened. We'll remember themoment the news came -- wherewe were and what we were do-ing. Some will remember an im-age of a fire, or a story of rescue.Some will carry memories of aface and a voice gone forever.

And I will carry this: It is thepolice shield of a man namedGeorge Howard, who died at theWorld Trade Center trying to saveothers. It was given to me by hismom, Arlene, as a proud memo-rial to her son. This is my re-minder of lives that ended, anda task that does not end. I willnot forget this wound to ourcountry or those who inflicted it.I will not yield; I will not rest; Iwill not relent in waging thisstruggle for freedom and securityfor the American people. Thecourse of this conflict is notknown, yet its outcome is certain.Freedom and fear, justice andcruelty, have always been at war,and we know that God is notneutral between them.

Fellow citizens, we'll meet vi-olence with patient justice -- as-sured of the rightness of ourcause, and confident of the vic-tories to come. In all that lies be-fore us, may God grant us wis-dom, and may He watch over theUnited States of America. Thankyou.

President Bush Speaks to a Joint Session of Congress Nine Days after 9/11

President George W. Bush speaks to Congress just nine days after 9/11. He united the nation tostand together, despite political differences, in the War on Terror.

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think this wouldn’t even be aquestion if his name wasn’tAhmed Mohamed.” That orga-nization also called for Dr. Car-son to withdraw from the pres-idential race given his commentabout not supporting a Muslimfor president.

As I mentioned in variouscolumns after the fact, given allof the school shootings that oc-curred between 9/11 and now,almost exclusively by young,white males, I do not for a mo-ment doubt that had Ahmedbeen a blond-haired, blue-eyedboy named Brian O’Leary orsomething just as “American-sounding,” the police wouldhave been called on the spotanyway. Nonetheless, there is nodenying that there remains aprejudicial heightened alert to-ward people named “AhmedMohamed” – to deny that wouldbe disingenuous, too.

When Donald Trump resortsto name-calling in the mode ofan eighth-grader or a shock-jock, that does not do our na-tional political discourse muchgood. Except that he serves a

valuable purpose: he points outthat the other extreme, politicalcorrectness, can be very damag-ing.

When people bend overbackwards not to offend anyoneof a particular race, nationality,religion, or sexual persuasion –which in and of itself is a formof unjustified discrimination –they often risk a far more dan-gerous consequence.

Just in case it still needs tobe said: 1) Most Muslims aregood people; 2) Plenty of ter-rorists are not Muslims; but 3)Americans, and most vocallyMuslim-Americans, need tospeak out against those few rad-ical extremists that give an en-tire religion, which spans vari-ous cultures, a bad name.

14 YEARS LATERI never thought that when I

wrote the article that is now al-most 14 years old, Al Qaedawould still exist, other terroristgroups, such as ISIS, would beso prevalent, and the decimatedWorld Trade Center – includingthe St. Nicholas Greek OrthodoxChurch – would not yet be com-pleted.

I hoped that the rebuildingeffort would have been a swiftone, not one bogged down bypolitics and bureaucracy.Though the Freedom Tower isbeautiful, I always favored therebuilding of the Twin Towersto look just as they did before.Only a little taller: one being109 stories, the other 111 (“9”“11” – get it?).

That would have been ourmessage to the world: that youcan spend a decade planning totear our buildings down, butwe’ll put them back up biggerand better than ever, in a heart-

beat. Because that’s what we do– after all, we’re Americans.

In less than a year and half,the 45th president of the UnitedStates will be sworn in. At thispoint in time, we know notwhether it will be a man or awoman, a Democrat or a Repub-lican, or even an independent.But hopefully it will be someonewho, to paraphrase John F.Kennedy, will “pay any price,bear any burden, meet anyhardship, support any friend,oppose any foe to assure” thatnothing like that ever happenson U.S. soil again.

9/11/2001: 14 Years LaterTHE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 5

Archie, the Meathead, and the American FlagBy Constantinos E. ScarosPublished in The National Herald (January 12, 2002)

The colors red, white, and blue were just as prevalent as red and green this holiday season, but it’s a wonder how longthis wave of patriotism will last. As many of us have donned American flags on our lapels, Archie Bunker comes to mind.

Archie (played by Carroll O’Connor) was the highly-opinionated, often-controversial, but always-patriotic central characterof the popular 1970s sitcom, All in the Family. Proudly displaying Old Glory on his overcoat lapel, Archie would often chidehis son-in-law, Mike Stivic (played by Rob Reiner) for being an unpatriotic “commie, liberal, meathead.” Mike, in turn,would mock his World War II veteran father-in-law’s flag-waving, suggesting that Archie “go down to the Post Office andsalute a flag.”

In the wake of Sept. 11 – in terms of our unwavering support of our country’s foreign policy, particularly in our waragainst terrorism – we have all become Archies. Even the Mike Stivics of the world wear flags on their lapels nowadays. Butthe Meathead’s lack of flag-waving was less an unpatriotic sign (he would have never advocated a violent, or even nonviolent,overthrow of our government) than Archie’s display was a testimony to his personal experience of Pearl Harbor and WorldWar II. The Meathead simply wasn’t born back then, and could not fully appreciate the horror of the Pearl Harbor tragedyor the significance of the Allies’ ensuing victory. In fact, how many people realize that (with all due respect to the PearlHarbor and Sept. 11 victims), the most tumultuous attack on the United States in its history was in the Summer of 1814when the British (then, our enemies) stormed Washington and burned the city while the President and Congress fled fortheir lives.

Will our steadfast support of our country’s foreign policy fade once again as this crisis wanes? Will we become dispassionateonce Osama Bin Laden has been captured, killed, or declared dead, or once the Taliban and Al Qaeda have been destroyed?What will happen two, five, or 10 years from now, if our leaders determine that terrorism is again sprouting in some otherarea of the world? Will we stand united as we did this time, or will it take another horrific act to awaken the national con-sciousness?

Like Archie, many of us will continue to wear a flag on our lapel – both literally and figuratively – 30 years after the eventin question. But, in the Fall of 2031, will the new generation honor our conviction, or laugh at it? The answer will go far todefine how we continue to react to September 11 and its aftermath in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Political Correctness and National Security: 14 Years after 9/11Continued from page 3

John Katsimatides MemorialA shrine honoring John Katsimatides, one of the thousandsof Americans killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks atthe World Trade Center, and one of a few who were ofGreek descent. This image is placed along the main roadof Mandraki, the capital town of his parents’ native islandNisyros. The Aegean Sea appears in the background, andto the right is a glimpse of the small island of Yiali – knownfor its pumice mining industry – which belongs to Nisyros.

It is a challenge to find inspiration in a tragedy, but it gets eas-ier by looking at the design of the soon-to-be state-of-the-artreconceptualized and reconstructed St. Nicholas Greek Ortho-dox Church at the new World Trade Center.

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September 11, 2001 is the date

we will never forgetRemembering, honoring

and paying respect to all loved ones we lost.

United we standGod bless America

Proud to see the rise again of St. NicholasGreek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero

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A tribute to the victims of 9/11/2001

We will never forget!God Bless America

9/11/2001: 14 Years Later6 THE NATIONAL HERALD, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

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September 11thWe will never forget

God Bless America