‘Sadness all around’
Published:Sunday | September 12, 2021 | 12:06 AMLester Hinds - Gleaner Writer
NEW YORK:
This weekend, the United States will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, including nearly 20 Jamaicans.
However, although a memorial was erected in 2008 to recognise the Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals killed in the September 11, 2001, attack, there are no announced plans for the Jamaican/Caribbean community to mark the 20th anniversary.
Many of the Jamaicans who perished in the attack worked in the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan.
Former Jamaican consul general to New York, who laid the wreath at the memorial dedicated to Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals killed in the attack, Geneive Brown-Metzger, said that it is the only memorial erected for Jamaicans outside of the one commissioned bearing the names of all the victims to commemorate the victims killed.
She said that it came about because there was no official recognition of the Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals who lost their lives in the attack.
“I thought that it was unfair given the coming together of the entire country following the attack,” she said, adding that she thought it was important to get it done.
Brown-Metzger said that getting the memorial erected was one of her proudest achievements.
Dr Basil K. Bryan, who was consul general when the attack took place, recalled having to bring comfort to the relatives of the victims.
“I have never been to so many funerals in so short a time, but it was necessary to bring comfort to the grieving families,” he said.
TRIBUTE TO FALLEN
Recalling the fateful day, Bryan told The Gleaner that the community came together to pay tribute to those fallen in the attack.
“It was sadness all around,” he said.
He said that the attack was a major surprise and that about 100 Caribbean nationals perished in the disaster. A church service was held to to mourn the fallen Caribbean nationals, he recalled.
Twenty years on, relatives of those killed say the memories of the day are still painful.
Jamaica’s Global Diaspora Council member for the northeast region, Dr Karren Dunkley, told The Gleaner that she did not know of any official event to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in the Jamaican community, but efforts were being made to have the names of the fallen read out at church services.
More than 70 countries lost nationals in the attack that killed 2,977 people. The majority of those killed – 2,605 – were Americans, with the United Kingdom having the second-highest toll, losing 67 nationals.
The City of Miramar and Mayor Wayne M. Messam will host a dedication ceremony for a new monument being erected at Miramar Regional Park to honour the victims of the attack. The monument will be made of two broken beams secured by the City from Ground Zero following the tragedy that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people, including firefighters and police officers.
Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Reverend Dr Karen R. Green, said that the Jamaican and Caribbean communities should never forget those who perished due to the events.
“We lost a good many Jamaican and Caribbean nationals, and we must do everything to preserve the fact that they paid the ultimate price while just going about their everyday life. As a community, we must continue to hold them up in our hearts and memory,” she said.
Guenet Gittens-Roberts, president, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce of Florida Inc, said the 20th anniversary of the attacks is a time to pause and reflect on the 3,000 lives lost and countless others affected by those lost lives.
“Let us reach out in their honour to speak to those we love and to remind those they loved that we will never forget,” she said, noting that she would be hosting a virtual service on Saturday at 11 a.m. in recognition of those lost and affected.
“We will never let them be forgotten,” said Gittens-Roberts.
The Guyanese community in New York has announced that it is also hosting two wreath-laying events on Saturday at Liberty Corner, Liberty Avenue and 123rd Street – in the heart of the Guyanese community – and another at Fire Engine 308, Lafferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill, also in Queens, New York.
JAMAICAN VICTIMS
Among the Jamaicans killed were:
1. Delrose E. Forbes Cheatham
2. Joyce Smith
3. Vaswald George Hall
4. Derrick Auther Green
5. Joan Donna Griffith
6. Courtney Wainsworth Walcott
7. John Sylvester White
8. Lloyd Stanford Brown
9. Kerene Gordon
10. Denise Marie Gregory
11. Michael Richards
12. Venesha Orintia Richards
13. Neil Hinds
14. Michael Parkes
CARIBBEAN VICTIMS
The known other Caribbean victims of 9/11 listed at the memorial are as follows per country:
Guyana
1. Nezam A. Hafiz
2. Eustace R. Bacchus
3. Kris Romeo Bishundat
4. Annette Andrea Dataram
5. Ricknauth Jaggernauth
6. Sarah Khan
7. Amarnauth Lachhman
8. Amenia Rasool
9. Sita Nermalla Sewnarine
10. Hardai Parbhu
Antigua & Barbuda
1. Albert Gunnis Joseph
2. Emelda Perry
3. Catherina Henry-Robinson
Barbados
1. Colin Arthur Bonnett
2. Pauline Francis
3. Melissa Renée Vincent
Dominica
1. Fitzroy St. Rose
2. Lucy Francis
Dominican Republic
There were an estimated 47 DR nationals who died on 9/11 including:
Pedro Checo
Faustino Apostol
Alvarez Victoria Brito
Janet Alonso
David Agnes
Frank Thomas Aquilino
Lilian Caceres
Eddie Calderon
Alejandro Castaño
Jaime Concepcion
Nestor Chevalier
Haiti
1. Mark Y. Gilles
2. Andre Bonheur, Jr.
3. Francois Jean-Pierre
Trinidad and Tobago
1. Rena Sam Dinnoo
2. Winston Arthur Grant
3. Stephen Joseph
4. Glenroy I. Neblett
5. Boyie Mohammed
6. Clara Victorine Hinds
7. Anthony Portillo
8. GoumatieThackurdeen
Puerto Rico
1. Edna Cintron
2. Rosa J. Gonzalez
3. Alexis Leduc
4. Ivan Vale
5. Santos Valentin Jr.
6. Peter Vega
7. Norberto Hernandez
8. Diana B. Padro
9. Carmen Milagros Rodriguez
10. Sonia Mercedes Morales Puopolo
11. Carlos Segarra
12. Angel M. Pabon, Jr.
13. Victor Daniel Barbosa
14. Carlos R. Lillo
15. Juan Nieves Jr.
16. Waleska Martinez
17. Paul DeCola
18. Matthew Diaz
19. Milagros Hromada
20. Isaias Rivera
21. Linda Ivelisse Rivera
22. Ivan Antonio Perez
Grenada
1. Jeffrey G. La Touche
Bermuda
1. Kevin Patrick York
2. Rhondelle Cherie Tankard