September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of family members of September 11th victims lost at the Pentagon, World Trade Center, and Flight 93, will join representatives of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out for a ceremony honoring all victims of violence and war, both civilian and military, on Sunday, May 25th, in Manhattan.
A simple wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, near the Staten Island Ferry, will be followed by remarks from speakers representing the different groups. They will then float flowers on the water in memory of the dead.
“Today we struggle to remember far too many people around the world who have lost their lives to war-related violence: civilians, military personnel, their neighbors, and loved ones,” said Colleen Kelly, New York regional coordinator for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, who lost her brother, William Kelly, Jr. at the World Trade Center. “We choose to honor the memory of our loved ones by saying simply, ‘enough.'” Kelly lives and works in the Bronx.
“Memory is a debt of honor owed by war’s survivors to war’s casualties,” said Ben Chitty, a disabled Navy veteran of two deployments to Vietnam.”Who cares more, who knows better, who speaks with greater honesty about the true costs and the real consequences of war? What more honorable way to remember?” Chitty is a member of the Clarence Fitch Chapter, the New York metro-area affiliate of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He lives in Yonkers and works in Queens.
WHEN: Sunday, May 25th, 3pm
WHERE: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 56 Water Street, Manhattan
TRANSPORTATION: N/R subway to Whitehall Street, then walk east to Water Street, turn north two blocks, plaza on right; 1/9 to South Ferry, then walk north on South St. two blocks, plaza on left. Bring flowers if you can.
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows www.peacefultomorrows.org
Military Families Speak Out www.mfso.org
Veterans for Peace www.veteransforpeace.org
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Filed in: Press Releases
