Sept. 11, three years later: Day of rallies, reflection

By Tan Vinh and Peyton Whitely
Seattle Times staff reporters

TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Blank murals invite reflection yesterday on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, outside the downtown Seattle Public Library, where John Carr, left, and Tema Milstein begin painting messages in pictures and words.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Other links Our Eyes Have Been Opened: The Northwest one year later Crossing America: The nation's mood one year later

Across Puget Sound, residents spent the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at support-the-troops rallies, somber tributes and discussion groups. From flag-waving on freeway overpasses to the hushed viewing of a memorial quilt, citizens used yesterday to reflect on the past and its repercussions on the present.

Hundreds of people gathered at the new Seattle Central Library yesterday to participate in The September Project, a daylong series of activities aimed at allowing people to talk about the effects of the attacks and about broad themes in American society: war, peace, patriotism and America. Libraries all around the Puget Sound area were participating.

In the downtown Seattle branch, a 275-seat auditorium was filled to capacity for each of two showings of a documentary film titled "Poetry in Wartime." Dozens of others gathered in informal rap sessions. A techno approach allowed visitors to record their thoughts about the state of the country and then view the messages on a big-screen plasma display in the lobby, as well as on the project's Web site, www.theseptemberproject.org. Other messages were left in a series of murals arrayed outside the building along sidewalks.

	ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Michele Wesley of Kalamazoo, Mich., finds visiting the 9/11 memorial quilt at Seattle Center an emotion-filled experience yesterday. She'd just taken an Alaska cruise and didn't know the display was here until she happened upon it. The display continues today.

"The idea was to have people have an opportunity to express and talk about it," said Andra Addison, library communications director, explaining that the idea spread to more than 450 other libraries around the country.

At a "War & Peace" mural, one inscription asked a question and provided an answer. "Does war produce peace? No!"

An "America" mural generated such thoughts as "Vote Yale for President" and "When a ballot is cast and no one counts it, does it make a sound?"

Meanwhile, video displays invited visitors to sit at a computer keyboard and log on to an Internet site while facing a Web camera.

Regardless of their feelings, many visitors said they'd come to the library to try to cope with the legacy of terror.

"I think it was really just the whole way to commemorate this occasion and do that with other people," said Dave Shull of Seattle, who'd come to see the 75-minute movie. "I think this is sort of a sense of, 'How do you mark this?' It's a way not to sort of surrender to the fear. Our best is not brought out by being fearful."

	TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Joleen Donahoe adds the red-painted footprint of her daughter, Amina Donahoe, to the murals outside the downtown library.

Nearly 200 people who crowded into a gym at the Islamic School of Seattle last evening heard a similar message during an interfaith service to reflect on Sept. 11.

"Fear is not all bad; it's necessary for our survival," said the Rev. David Tinneyof Aldersgate United Methodist Church. "Fear always interferes with healing," he said.

The service, which included Jewish, Muslim and Christian prayers and readings and a candle-lighting ceremony, shows how far the community has come since Sept. 11, said Samia El-Moslimany, chairwoman of the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Before Sept. 11, most religious groups kept to themselves, and the Muslim community in particular was largely isolated, she said. But now, members of 13 different religious organizations from around the region meet regularly to work on community projects, such as an upcoming Habitat for Humanity build. "It's a positive outcome from a horrible tragedy," she said.

Expressions of concern took another shape at Seattle Center's Center House, where thousands of quilted squares, formed into 300 quilts, were displayed.

Known as "The WTC/Pentagon/PA Memorial Quilt," the quilts are arranged on two floors of the building, the first time they've been displayed in their entirety in a single showing.

Debbie Mehal came from Ellensburg with her family to see the displays.

"It gives them something tangible. They can't go to New York," she said. "We wanted to commemorate 9/11 in a positive way."

It was in looking at the quilts from just a few inches away that the significance of the messages became clear: Each square bears the name and age of a victim, as well as the name of the person who sewed the square.

"Hilda Marcin 79 UA 93," it said on part of one square, with the name "Katie E. Nichodemus" appearing in another corner, showing how a 79-year-old victim of the Flight 93 crash in Pennsylvania was remembered by someone who took the time to sew an inscription.

The quilt project started with the late Amy Sue Leasure, a quilter and police dispatcher in Prescott Valley, Ariz. She asked for donations of 12-inch squares and thought she'd need 7,500. She got those and a lot more — some 20,000 squares came in from 30 countries. She died of cancer in 2002. The project was later taken up by Brian Kohler of Seattle, who arranged for the display here.

The quilt display continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Center House.

Elsewhere, several freeway overpasses turned into a wave of red, white and blue. The patriotic pitch was especially high around military bases, with many poles, ramps and overpasses dotted with yellow ribbons.

At the Interstate 5 overpass near Camp Murray, Marine veteran Mark Ceccerelli blew his trumpet at midnight Friday, playing taps and "Amazing Grace" amid gusty winds and a downpour.

He returned hours later to play patriotic tunes to the 60 to 80 veterans and relatives of service personnel who waved flags and cheered motorists below.

Army veteran Patrick Smith, 41, of Spanaway, Pierce County, came decked out in red, white and blue.

As he looked below at the rows of cars on I-5, Smith called it an emotional moment "to see so many people with their headlights on in remembrance of 9/11."

Barbara Webb, 43, of Federal Way, whose son returned from Iraq last year with the Marines, came to honor those who are still serving overseas. "I think people have forgotten about 9/11. People have gone back to their lives," she said.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656

Peyton Whitely: 425-466-7030 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More local news headlines...