Forty-four Orange County residents who lost their lives during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were remembered at a ceremony in Thomas Bull Memorial Park.
Mary Bratton, who lost her daughter that day, told The Epoch Times: “I felt it was like yesterday. It is hard every day. It never goes away.”
Her daughter, Michelle Renee Bratton, who was 23 years old at the time, was working as an executive assistant at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center when planes hijacked by terrorists hit the skyscrapers.
“Just before the attack, I stayed with Michelle and Erin [her other daughter] in their apartment to try to help them move in, and at three o’clock in the morning, I woke up, and there was a blue light around her,” Ms. Bratton said. “I knew something was going on but didn’t know what.”
Through the years, she said her faith in God helped her cope with the loss, and she also realized that the United States must not let its guard down.
“We always have to be vigilant because our enemies are always trying to figure out ways to attack us,” Ms. Bratton said. “It was the premonition that we let our guard down. We kind of slipped.”
Following the tragedy, Ms. Bratton and her husband, Bill Bratton, created a memorial scholarship fund in their daughter’s name to support high school graduates from Pine Bush School District.
Carolyn Livesey, a Middletown resident, has accompanied her best friend, Heloiza Asaro, to the remembrance ceremony almost every year after Ms. Asaro’s firefighter husband lost his life on that fatal day.
“All the time, we think of him, and we pray for him and his family,” Ms. Livesey told The Epoch Times.
Carl Asaro left behind six children, four of whom followed in his footsteps to become firefighters.
The majority of county residents who died during the terrorist attacks were New York firefighters: Mr. Asaro, Matthew Barnes, Capt. Frank Callahan, Michael Cammarata, BC Dennis L. Devlin, Lt. Peter L. Freund, Lt. Michael N. Fodor, Denis P. Germain, Lt. John F. Ginley, John Giordano, Robert Hamilton, Lt. Stephen G. Harrell, Ronnie Lee Henderson, Thomas R. Holohan Jr., Kenneth B. Kumpel, Kenneth J. Marino, Douglas C. Miller, Michael Montesi, Gerald T. Nevins, Lt. Glenn C. Perry, Donald J. Regan, Paul G. Ruback, Richard Van Hine, David M. Weiss, Mark P. Whitford, and Chief John P. Williamson.
The rest of the victims are David Alger of Tuxedo Park, Eric Raymond Thorpe of Tuxedo Park, Michael E. Asher of Monroe, Edward Mazzella, Jr. of Monroe, Lynne I. Morris of Monroe, Lt. Gregg A. Atlas of Middletown, Francis J. Feely of Middletown, Jason and Daniel M. Coffey of Newburgh, Michael Trinidad of Newburgh, Thomas Dowd of Harriman, Martin M. Wortley of Harriman, Linda Kristine Gronlund of Greenwood Lake, Peter Mark Gyulavary of Warwick, Chris Michael Kirby of Schotchtown, Carmen A. Rivera of Westtown, and Donald J. Tuzio of Goshen.
The names of all 44 residents who lost their lives because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were read aloud at the ceremony, each followed by a bell toll.
“We do remember, we do reflect, and we never forget in this country,” County Executive Steve Neuhaus said at the remembrance ceremony. “I am so proud of everyone for coming here.”
Congressman Patrick Ryan, County Clerk Kelly Eschew, and three county legislators, Janet Sutherland, Joseph Minuta, and Leigh Benton, were also present at the ceremony.
