Tanya Writes About the USS New York

I got this in an e-mail from some fire-buddies and can't help but pass it along. We visited Ground Zero a summer ago on our first (but it won't be last!) trip to New York. Still get chills. Still get tears, thinking of the great sacrifices of 9/11.

Maybe this ship is a kind of phoenix, something rising from the ashes. Something hopeful out of the destruction on that day the world as we knew it stopped turning.

This ship was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center destroyed on that horrific September day.

The fifth in a new class of warship, she's designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. She will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my
neck stood up. It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back..."

Notice her twin towers? Her motto?

“Never forget.”

Tanya Writes About Yellow Ribbons

Well, they're yellow. But these ribbons aren't for our daughter's wedding. We just got back from a fantastic trip to Sacramento where I picked up some information about the symbol of the yellow ribbon. And with today being the anniversary of that horrible day the world stopped turning eight years ago, I'm featuring this post here as well as at the Western authors blog, Cactus Rose at The Wild Rose Press.

I never liked the song much, Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree, but that doesn't mean I can't sing it at will all these years later! And I remember wearing a yellow ribbon during the Iran Hostage Crises of 1981-82. These days, I see frequent reminders to pray for our troops on yellow-ribbon car magnets.

But not until last week, visiting Old Sacramento, did I learn the origins of the yellow ribbon. For almost 150 years, displaying a yellow ribbon is a sign of loyalty to family, friends and loved ones far away from home in difficult situations such as war or captivity.

According to legend, the custom of a yellow ribbon showing support for a loved one far away began during the Civil War. At this time, the United States Cavalry wore yellow piping on their uniforms. Women who were married or promised to a Cavalryman wore yellow ribbons while waiting for their soldiers' return. Supposedly the practice kept prospective suitors at bay as well as warned of reprisal by the soldier if his lover was harmed.

Another version of the custom traces its origins to the horrific Andersonville Prison. Officially known as Camp Sumpter, Andersonville was one of the largest, most notorious Confederate prison camps. During its 14 months of operation, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined, 13,000 losing their lives from disease, malnutrition, overcrowding, and exposure.

Supposedly a member of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry who had been a Confederate prisoner there for several years, wrote to his wife with the suggestion that, rather than wear her ribbon, she tie it to a signpost near the train station so he could see it upon his return. The tale soon became part of Civil War lore.

The following song spread throughout the North, its words set to an old British drinking song:

Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore it in the Springtime and in the month of May.
And if you ask her why the hells he wore it,
She wore it for her soldier who is far, far away.

(Chorus)
Far away, far away.
She wore it for her soldier who is far, far away.

During the 1991 Gulf War and following 9/11, the yellow ribbon symbol has gained widespread popularity as it sends our service members the message that they are never far from our hearts.

Sincere thanks to the Old Sacramento School House Museum for this information.

Tanya Writes About the Heroes of 9/11

Where were you when the world stopped turning....
that September day?

When the towers were hit, I was driving to school, mourning my Beta fish Elizabeth. (Yes, I know they're male, but my friend Betty gave it to me and I named the fish after her. This one ended up Elizabeth I. I bought Elizabeth II later that day.) And because of my mood, I had on a relaxation spa tape and not KHAY, the country station which has frequent newsbreaks.

So not knowing a thing, I walked into my office and saw my ever-so-hard-working colleague glued to the TV set. I asked what was wrong.

Oh my God. I called my hero right away. A firefighter, his thoughts were with the brotherhood marching UPWARD into hell while everybody else was coming down.

I was scheduled the next day to attend a college counseling conference two hours away. Although I prayed the thing was cancelled, it wasn't...and I headed out that night to a hotel.

I can't explain how weird it was, no planes in the sky. Something that subtle suddenly not there was so unbelievably noticeable.

I wore a red and white top with a denim skirt to the conference, trying for patriotism. A night or two later, my hero and I attended a candlelit ceremony at the county government center....with hundreds of others.

This past summer, we visited Ground Zero. The temporary museum (the "real" one won't open until I think 2012.) supplies boxes of Kleenex every few feet. There really aren't any words a human can use to describe the pain that lingers there. The taped messages of loved ones who waited...and waited. One firefighter's wife said, everybody thinks September 11 was the worst day. Well, for me it's the 12th...the day they found my husband's body.

Make that body parts. I think only one late firefighter came out whole.

Ladder 10 is right across from the site. On 9/11, the entire shift crew perished. My hero went into talk to the guys. The memorials are heart-rending. A bronze mural down the side of the station features Truck #343.

The unimaginable number of firefighters lost that day.



I'm getting shivers just writing this. On our subway (make that "train") to Yankee Stadium, my hero had on a firefighter logo T-shirt. A guy sitting across from us started up a conversation. On 9/11, he'd been six-weeks retired from FDNY, and the minute the towers fell, he and almost 1,000 other retirees came back on the job. Nothing would keep them away.

Well, I know firefighters. Nothing can hold them back.

And I'll always have in my mind and heart the yellow Lab guide dog, Roselle, leading her man safely down 80 stories. Reading an article on them years later while I waited for an oil change had me sobbing in public.

Oh, I'm shivering again.

God bless the USA.