The Aquidneck Inquirer

the editorial staff's 9/11/01 essay first published on 9/18/01

THE EDITORIAL STAFF ESSAY FROM THE AQUIDNECK INQUIRER OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2001

A week after the terror attacks on 9/11/01, we published the third edition of the Aquidneck Inquirer, and it included an Essay entitled
“On Manhattan – from a friend”
in memory of the events of that day, and all who were lost in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the families of those who died.
This republication is especially dedicated to the children born after their parents died on 9-11 and who will never meet those parents and to the surviving parents who are raising those children.

ESSAY

On Manhattan – from a friend

There is something special about an island.

I fell in love with the island of Manhattan the first time I ever visited. I was about 9 or 10, and my parents had moved from upstate New York to Pennsylvania. One day, my father said, “Son, we’re going to go over to New York – so you can see it – we’ll go on Saturday.”

We did. We drove up the Jersey Turnpike – through the Holland Tunnel – I was immediately struck by the Dutch influence – the Tunnel set the tone.

I guess we parked near Rockefeller Center.
And we walked all over – me and my mom and dad. My father, who is gone now, loved the place, and told me of when he had been there when he was younger. He was a Southerner from a comparatively small city, but he loved Manhattan. He loved to be walking on the street – not in a limousine or cab – but where you could see what was happening. I would later, for a while, lose some of that view and dabble, for a while, with limos. But now, so many years later, I see that he was right all along.

We went into 30 Rock – that was the building. It was, and is, to me the most graceful structure on the outside I have seen in person. The lobby murals – the floors - hit me and still do every time.
And, of course, I thought it was fantastic that the National Broadcasting Company was right in there. We took the NBC tour that day, and went up to the roof.

Even on that first visit, I was confronted by the danger that could erupt unforeseen in Manhattan – there was a shooting that day – rounds fired – on the street we were on, in what may have been an attempt to knock over a jewelry store, on 51st Street near the “NBC Studios” marquee. I have a home movie – somewhat jumpy – when the shots were fired. Needless, to say, my mother, now gone too, was not thrilled.

I remember 5th Avenue from that day. And, getting my father to spring for a soda under the watching guise of Prometheus ------ he always said I had the “champagne taste with the beer pocketbook.” He was right about that too.

Later, still in elementary school, I lucked out winning a spelling bee by getting “Manhattan” right. Looking back now, it is ironic that it was knowing that there were twin “t’s” that provided my victory.

So, from the first minute – with my family – with some danger – but, with a feeling of joy from being there, I loved Manhattan.

I ended up going to school there to learn the law on Morningside Heights.
I took my first bar exam there in the old Commodore Hotel.
I worked at my first job there at 5th and 44th, and still work there.
I served as a deacon in a church there on 55th Street.
I met my wife to be there at friends’ on West 75th Street.
I have enjoyed some absolutely wonderful and triumphant times there and have endured some excruciating and dreadful times there.

But, it remains my favorite place.
Perhaps it is overstating it as one said, “When you leave Manhattan, you’re out of town”. But, the place is an integral part of my life and the lives of many in my family.

Decades of exposure convince me that the people there are truly friendly and helpful and decent.

Now, in the past week, we have seen that island and its people – who live and work and visit and play and just pass through – desecrated by entities which are devoid of humanity and conceived by evil.

I have watched and wished I was there now to help.
But, I understand that the people and the island will resurrect and rebuild.

Those who are lost are in God’s care.
Those who have risked all to save others are in our perpetual debt.

We gird ourselves now. As the 10 year old and now decades later, I would have never thought we would ever actually witness the unveiled visage of evil that exposed itself last week – no human could have imagined it.

So, perhaps, we are all islanders now – ready to preserve, protect and defend our peoples, our freedoms and our lands.
But, to do so we shall have to venture far from home – put ourselves further at risk – and fight until the evil is driven out.
=

FROM THE 3RD EDITION OF THE AQUIDNECK INQUIRER IN 2001: THE ESSAY ENTITLED: "ON MANHATTAN - FROM A FRIEND" - FIRST PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2001

 

THE WORLD TRADE CENTER - AS WE MANHATTANITES REMEMBER IT

 

 

THE EDITOR’S ESSAY FROM THE AQUIDNECK INQUIRER OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2001:

A week after the terror attacks on 9/11/01, we published the third edition of the Aquidneck, and it included an Essay entitled “On Manhattan – from a friend” in memory of the events of that day, and all who were lost in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the families of those who died. This repeat is especially dedicated to the children born after their fathers died on 9-11 and who will never meet their fathers and to the mothers who are raising those children without those fathers. 

When this essay was first published in 2001, the then-Editor felt it was best to not disclose the author. 

In repeats since then, The Aquidneck Inquirer has disclosed that it was written by our founding Editor. 

Here is the Essay - in it original form - we continue to believe and stand by its words.

///

On Manhattan – From A Friend

There is something special about an island.

I fell in love with the island of Manhattan the first time I ever visited. 

I was about 9 or 10, and my parents had moved from upstate New York to Pennsylvania. 

One day, my father said, “Son, we’re going to go over to New York – so you can see it – we’ll go on Saturday.”

We did. 

We drove up the Jersey Turnpike – through the Holland Tunnel – I was immediately struck by the Dutch influence – the Tunnel set the tone.

I guess we parked near Rockefeller Center. 

And we walked all over – me and my mom and dad. My father, who is gone now, loved the place, and told me of when he had been there when he was younger. 

He was a Southerner from a comparatively small city, but he loved Manhattan. 

He loved to be walking on the street – not in a limousine or cab – but where you could see what was happening. I would later, for a while, lose some of that view and dabble, for a while, with limos. 

But now, so many years later, I see that he was right all along.

We went into 30 Rock – that was the building. 

It was, and is, to me the most graceful structure on the outside I have seen in person. 

The lobby murals – the floors - hit me and still do every time. And, of course, I thought it was fantastic that the National Broadcasting Company was right in there. We took the NBC tour that day, and went up to the roof.

Even on that first visit, I was confronted by the danger that could erupt unforeseen in Manhattan – there was a shooting that day – rounds fired – on the street we were on, in what may have been an attempt to knock over a jewelry store, on 51st Street near the “NBC Studios” marquee. 

I have a home movie – somewhat jumpy – when the shots were fired. 

Needless, to say, my mother, now gone too, was not thrilled.

I remember 5th Avenue from that day. 

And, getting my father to spring for a soda under the watching guise of Prometheus ------ he always said I had the “champagne taste with the beer pocketbook.” 

He was right about that too.

Later, still in elementary school, I lucked out winning a spelling bee by getting “Manhattan” right. Looking back now, it is ironic that it was knowing that there were twin “t’s” that provided my victory.

So, from the first minute – with my family – with some danger – but, with a feeling of joy from being there, I loved Manhattan.

I ended up going to school there to learn the law on Morningside Heights. 

I took my first bar exam there in the old Commodore Hotel. 

I worked at my first job there at 5th and 44th, and still work there. 

I served as a deacon in a church there on 55th Street. 

I met my wife to be there at friends’ on West 75th Street. 

I have enjoyed some absolutely wonderful and triumphant times there and have endured some excruciating and dreadful times there.

But, it remains my favorite place. 

Perhaps it is overstating it as one said, “When you leave Manhattan, you’re out of town”. 

But, the place is an integral part of my life and the lives of many in my family.

Decades of exposure convince me that the people there are truly friendly and helpful and decent.

Now, in the past week, we have seen that island and its people – who live and work and visit and play and just pass through – desecrated by entities which are devoid of humanity and conceived by evil.

I have watched and wished I was there now to help. But, I understand that the people and the island will resurrect and rebuild. 

Those who are lost are in God’s care. 

Those who have risked all to save others are in our perpetual debt.

We gird ourselves now. 

As the 10 year old and now decades later, I would have never thought we would ever actually witness the unveiled visage of evil that exposed itself last week – no human could have imagined it.

So, perhaps, we are all islanders now – ready to preserve, protect and defend our peoples, our freedoms and our lands. 

But, to do so we shall have to venture far from home – put ourselves further at risk – and fight until the evil is driven out.

 

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THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - JULY 4, 1776 /////

 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer,James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton