A Tribute To The Jersey Girls Part II

A Tribute To The Jersey Girls Part II

I decided to expand on my original tribute. As more articles are found, they will be posted.

September 16, 2001

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Larry King: Lorie Van Auken is in New York. Her husband Kenneth is missing. He was working on the 102nd floor. What does he do, Lorie?

Lorie Van Auken, wife of missing World Trade Center worker: He works for Cantor Fitzgerald. And he's a bond broker. And he was on the 102nd floor. And we just haven't heard anything at all.

King: Did you talk to him at all? Did he call home?

Van Auken: He called home. He left a message. And that's the last I heard from him. . . .

King: Let's listen to the voice of Kenneth Van Auken calling home.

Kenneth Van Auken: I love you. I'm in the World Trade Center. And the building was hit by something.

I don't know if I'm going to get out. But I love you very much. I hope I'll see you later. Bye.

-- ''Larry King Live,'' Sept. 12

October 24, 2001

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KENNETH VAN AUKEN
An Arbor of Memories

Kenneth Van Auken's job as a bond broker bought him the house with the yard in East Brunswick, N.J. But his passions for carpentry and gardening built the cedar-wood arbor in the yard where his widow, Lorie Van Auken, now goes to grieve.

Mr. Van Auken, 47, who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald and left two children, finished the arbor a week before he died. Last week, the clematis plants that the Van Aukens picked out together for the arbor came in the mail. Mrs. Van Auken planted them with a friend at hand to keep her from crying too hard.

Not far from where the pink flowers will crawl up the arbor, a big old maple stands dying, its leaves brown for months. But it is being allowed to stay for now. ''My husband loved this tree,'' Mrs. Van Auken said. ''We had decided to wait till spring to cut it down. Give it one more chance to go green again.''

While Mrs. Van Auken is gardening to confront her loss, their 12-year-old daughter, Sarah, has written and recorded a song, ''Daddy's Little Girl,'' that has been played on pop radio stations.

''Daddy, are you there?'' the song goes. ''Cause I've, I've looked everywhere.''

''Maybe you'll appear, somehow whisper in my ear.''

December 14, 2001

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''It makes me feel very sad and very ill that somebody could be so happy about those events when we feel so completely the opposite about them, so distraught and sad. It's like an alternate universe.''

LORIE VAN AUKEN, whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center attack, on the bin Laden tape.[B5]

December 14, 2001

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Another widow, Lorie Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth, was a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald in 1 World Trade Center, turned on the television in her kitchen in East Brunswick, N.J., to catch a glimpse of the videotape. She soon regretted having done so.

''It created waves of nausea coming over my body,'' Mrs. Van Auken said. ''I have this nauseous feeling as I speak. It makes me feel very sad and very ill that somebody could be so happy about those events when we feel so completely the opposite about them, so distraught and sad. It's like an alternate universe.''

Mrs. Van Auken watched the broadcast with her 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son at her side. That was not very easy either.

''Did I want them to see the tape?'' she said. ''No. I don't want it to exist. But it does exist, and the kids are going to see it one way or another.''

TRACES OF TERROR: SURVIVORS; Trade Center Widows Lobby for Independent Inquiry

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By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: June 12, 2002

The widows marched through the halls of Congress today, brandishing photos of their dead and a potent brew of patriotism, grief and indignation. The four women, New Jersey homemakers whose husbands vanished in the rubble of the World Trade Center, head a group demanding an independent inquiry into the events surrounding Sept. 11.

''It's not about politics,'' said one of the women, Kristen Breitweiser, 31, of Middletown, as she sat in the office of Representative Tim Roemer, an Indiana Democrat who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. ''It's about doing the right thing. It's about the safety of the nation.''

Until now, it has been a largely Democratic chorus calling for the establishment of a blue-ribbon panel, much like the commissions that dissected the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the explosion of TWA Flight 800. President Bush has resisted the creation of an outside body, saying Congress can handle the job and suggesting that an additional investigation might interfere with national security.

''I don't want to tie up our team when we're trying to fight this war on terror,'' he said last week.

But recalcitrant Republicans may soon find themselves face to face with the likes of Ellen Mariani of Derry, N.H., whose husband was on the United Airlines flight that smashed into the south tower of the trade center. Mrs. Mariani, her shirt emblazoned with American flag pendants and an oversized picture of her husband, joined four busloads of relatives, friends and others who came to Washington today to rally for the establishment of a commission.

''I want a real investigation. I don't want lip service,'' she said. ''I'm angry, and I'm not going away.''

At a gathering across from the Capitol under a broiling sun, speaker after speaker described their cause as nonpolitical and a matter of grave national concern. Mindy Kleinberg, of East Brunswick, a mother of three who lost her husband, Alan, on Sept. 11, said she still had many questions: Why were fighter jets not dispatched to intercept the hijacked planes? How were the terrorists able to train at American flight schools? How can future attacks be prevented?

''I want to be able to look into the eyes of my children, and tell them the evil is over there, that they are safe and that their country is secure,'' she said. ''Nine months have passed and I still cannot do that. I do not have answers.''

The organizers said they began their planning two months ago, long before the recent disclosures about intelligence lapses. Ms. Kleinberg, Ms. Breitweiser and two other women, Patty Casazza and Lorie Van Auken, met in a local bereavement group and said they were inspired by Bob Monetti, whose son died in the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. ''He said: 'You're not getting any answers. It's time for a rally,' '' Ms. Van Auken, 47, of East Brunswick, said. ''We had no idea what we were doing, but we didn't think we couldn't do it.''

The women have eagerly waded into Washington politics. ''I hate to admit it, but before Sept. 11, I understood politics vicariously through my husband,'' Ms. Casazza, 41, of Colts Neck, said. ''I have a new appreciation for the way Washington works.''

On Monday morning, they reluctantly left their children in the care of baby sitters and drove south for two days of arm-twisting and speech making. They visited nearly a dozen members of Congress, and by Tuesday afternoon they and their allies had won over a handful of Republicans, among them Representative Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey, who agreed to sponsor a House bill calling for the formation of an independent commission.

''Just give me a list of the people who are giving you problems and we'll knock on doors,'' Ms. Breitweiser said during a meeting with Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Republican who is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate.

Although the women were pleased with their progress -- and the extensive media attention to their visit -- Ms. Casazza could not stop worrying about her 11-year-old son, John, who was headed to a Yankee game this evening. ''I know I can't stop him, but it makes me so anxious,'' she said. ''All I want is to feel safe again.''

Correction: June 15, 2002, Saturday A picture caption on Wednesday about a Washington rally advocating an independent inquiry into the terrorism of Sept. 11 referred incorrectly to a victim, Paul Ambrose, whose fiancée, Bianca Angelino, demonstrated. He was killed while a passenger in the plane that hit the Pentagon; he did not die in the World Trade Center.

October 26, 2002

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One video narrative that is not yet finished is the one that Chris Placitella, a partner at Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, in Woodbridge, N.J., has put together for Lorie Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth, was a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald. So last week, Mr. Placitella, who also belongs to Trial Lawyers Care, invited Mrs. Van Auken and another widow, Patty Casazza, for a preview.

There were wedding pictures, bar mitzvah pictures, vacation pictures, sentimental pictures of the arbor and deck that he built.

But there was also no escape from the horror of Sept. 11. -- not when the narrative included Mr. Van Auken's harrowing, halting voice mail message. ''I'm in the World Trade Center. The building was hit by something. I don't know if I'm going to get out. I love you.''

And not when the narrative included the song ''Daddy's Little Girl,'' which was written by Sarah Van Auken, now 13. ''Daddy, are you there? 'Cause I've, I've looked everywhere. Maybe you'll appear, somehow whisper in my ear.''

As she watched her husband's life unfold on screen, Mrs. Van Auken crumpled tissue after tissue to dab away the tears. ''It's ripping your heart out,'' she said. ''But I'm glad I'm doing this, because it's something you'll have forever.''

Then, almost as abruptly as it began, the video was over. And for the next minute or so, no one said anything.

August 25, 2003

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''Right now I can look up at the sky and talk to him, but I can't go anywhere and reflect on his life,' said Lorie Van Auken, 48, whose husband, Kenneth, was on the 105th floor of the north tower on Sept. 11. His birthday is in a few days, and she said she yearns to have a place to visit on that day. ''I go outside and I don't know where to look for him. You feel lost. This would give me somewhere to go.''

Bloomberg and 9/11

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Published: November 28, 2003

To the Editor:

Re ''Stonewalling the 9/11 Commission'' (editorial, Nov. 23):

As members of the family steering committee of the 9/11 commission, we find it inconceivable that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg would stand in the way of turning over tapes of the first responders' experiences, which could yield invaluable information about preparedness, to the commission. No training sessions or military exercises could amount to lessons learned from actual experience.

A theoretical plan could never anticipate every possible contingency, and even the most carefully designed exercise cannot possibly mimic reality.

Instead of spending millions of tax dollars on theoretical exercises, why not use what was learned from the horrors of Sept. 11 by the first responders? Mayor Bloomberg is blocking our ability to gain access to that knowledge.

LORIE VAN AUKEN
MINDY KLEINBERG
East Brunswick, N.J., Nov. 23, 2003

February 29, 2004

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After trying to kill the commission and then trying to put Dr. Strangelove-Kissinger in charge, President Bush and Dick Cheney have done their best to hamper the panel that's the best hope of the 9/11 widows, widowers and orphans to get justice.

''This is not no-fault government,'' said Lorie Van Auken, a 9/11 widow. ''You don't just let people go on doing what they're doing wrong.''

9/11 Widows Skillfully Applied The Power of a Question: Why?

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By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: April 1, 2004

Kristen Breitweiser was at home in Middletown, N.J., cleaning out closets. Patty Casazza of Colts Neck was dashing to the dry cleaners. Lorie Van Auken of East Brunswick was headed out to do grocery shopping. Her neighbor Mindy Kleinberg had just packed her children off to school.

Then came word, Tuesday morning, that President Bush had agreed to allow his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to testify publicly about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. All at once, the cellphones started ringing and the e-mail started flying and ''the Jersey girls,'' as the four women are known in Washington, were getting credit for chalking up another victory in the nation's capital.

Americans just tuning in to the work of the commission investigating the attacks may not have heard of Ms. Breitweiser and the rest. But on Capitol Hill, these suburban women are gaining prominence as savvy World Trade Center widows who came to Washington, as part of a core group of politically active relatives of Sept. 11 victims, and prodded Congress and a recalcitrant White House to create the panel that this week brought official Washington to its knees.

''They call me all the time,'' said Thomas H. Kean, the commission's chairman and a former Republican governor of New Jersey. ''They monitor us, they follow our progress, they've supplied us with some of the best questions we've asked. I doubt very much if we would be in existence without them.''

The families have spent months pressing for Ms. Rice's public testimony; when the White House failed to send her to last week's hearings, they walked out in silent protest. On Tuesday, two Democratic senators, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Charles E. Schumer of New York, suggested that the families think about asking Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to testify publicly as well.

Ms. Van Auken said that had always been their preference. ''Of course we would like them to testify publicly,'' she said Wednesday.

Before Sept. 11, the Jersey girls (the nickname, which distinguishes the women from their New York and Connecticut counterparts, was popularized in song by Bruce Springsteen) knew little about government and less about politics. The closest Ms. Casazza came to foreign affairs was processing visa applications for French trainees while working for the cosmetics company Lancôme. Ms. Van Auken could not keep the two chambers of Congress straight.

''I remember saying to Patty: 'Which one is the one with more people, the Senate or the House?' '' she recalled.

The story of how they helped move a seemingly immoveable bureaucracy is at once the tale of a political education, and a sisterhood born of grief. They gathered Monday in the sun-drenched living room of Ms. Casazza's spacious home to tell it. The place, with its well-tended lawn and tennis court out back, spoke of another life. Ms. Casazza, who has a 13-year-old son, is planning to sell it. ''Downsizing,'' she said simply.

Three of them were married to men who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, but the women were strangers until after the attacks. Ms. Breitweiser, 33, and Ms. Casazza, 43, voted for Mr. Bush in 2000. Ms. Van Auken, 49, and Ms. Kleinberg, 42, voted for Al Gore. All insist they had no political agenda, then or now.

But they had a burning question. ''We simply wanted to know why our husbands were killed,'' Ms. Breitweiser said, ''why they went to work one day and didn't come back.''

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers were pressing for a commission; in December 2001, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, had proposed a bill. By the spring of 2002, Ms. Kleinberg had befriended the father of a victim of Pan Am Flight 103, the plane that was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. ''He said, 'The bill is languishing. If you want it to go anywhere, you have to make it happen.' ''

The women went to Home Depot, sawed wood for signs and staged a Washington rally; 300 people came out in the blistering heat. They staked out lawmakers and boarded the elevators marked ''Senators Only.'' They wheedled their way into the White House. Jay Lefkowitz, a former Bush domestic policy adviser, recalls giving them chocolate chip cookies, even as he successfully opposed some demands.

They stayed up nights surfing the Web, taking notes on things like Islamic radicalism and the Federal Aviation Administration's hijacking protocols.

''The Internet,'' Ms. Breitweiser said, ''has been our fifth widow.''

In the Capitol, they cried, they pleaded, they cajoled. Ms. Breitweiser showed her husband's wedding ring, found at ground zero still attached to his finger. Ms. Casazza brought photos of a Cantor Fitzgerald pool party, telling lawmakers, ''All the men are dead.''

They befriended reporters: Gail Sheehy, in The New York Observer, dubbed them ''the four moms.'' With her articulate manner and Ivory girl complexion, Ms. Breitweiser became a fixture on the television networks.

''No one wanted to say no to these women,'' said a Republican who participated in negotiations over the commission. He said the women ''were used'' by Democrats, an accusation Republicans repeated recently when Ms. Breitweiser criticized the Sept. 11 images in a Bush campaign advertisement. It is an acccusation she hotly denies.

Since the commission began its work, the Sept. 11 relatives, who call themselves the Family Steering Committee, have dogged its every move. When the panel complained of a lack of money, they lobbied for a bigger budget -- and won. When the House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, refused to grant the panel an extension, they headed to Washington again, and the speaker retreated. ''Public pressure by the 9/11 families,'' Mr. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, said about the reversal. ''There is no doubt about that.''

For every battle they have won, though, the families have lost others. The commission rejected their calls to subpoena classified intelligence briefings and to fire its executive director, Philip D. Zelikow, who co-wrote a book with Ms. Rice. The families also complained that last week's hearings deteriorated into a partisan spat over a book by Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism official. ''They were right on that one,'' Mr. Kean conceded.

So the Jersey girls are not congratulating themselves now on Ms. Rice. ''There are no victories here,'' Ms. Casazza said. Ms. Breitweiser added: ''A victory implies that this is a game. And this is not a game.''

End Part I

April 4, 2004

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Even the noble foursome of World Trade Center widows down in Washington keeping the 9/11 Commission honest -- Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Mindy Kleinberg and Lorie Van Auken -- even they had embraced the sobriquet, and proudly called themselves ''the Jersey Girls.''

May 20, 2004

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Elsewhere, some of the family members lingered and spoke of how they had not heard the questions and answers they had come to hear. Some had lost faith in the commission, saying it seemed to be committed to a sanitized history of that day.

''We fought like crazy to get this commission established,'' said Lorie Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth, died in the north tower. ''We want the truth. If we're not being told the truth, if we are only being told one side of the story, the commission is not doing its job properly.''

THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE FAMILIES; Relatives of the Lost Want a Longer, More Open Book

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By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: June 17, 2004

The narrative of the Sept. 11 terrorist plot unfolded in fresh, chilling detail on Wednesday, complete with maps and photographs.

Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker, could be seen in a grainy black and white surveillance snapshot, withdrawing $8,000 from a Virginia bank machine. There were pictures of the knives the terrorists may have used, and of a speeding ticket one received. The images flashed on two big screens, a pictorial accompaniment to the intricate tale of the attacks, told more comprehensively than ever before.

But for some listeners -- family members of those who lost their lives in the attacks -- the story was not nearly comprehensive enough.

''I want the definitive timeline of Sept. 11,'' said Lorie Van Auken, of East Brunswick, N.J., whose husband died in the World Trade Center. Another widow, Beverly Eckert, echoed the sentiment, stating flatly, ''Information is still being concealed.''

Ms. Eckert, Ms. Van Auken and scores of other relatives of those who died that day have religiously attended the hearings of the commission investigating the attacks. They come carrying notebooks and pictures of the dead, their hearts still aching, their minds filled with questions.

For the families, this week's hearings, which are scheduled to conclude Thursday and will be the last the panel conducts, offer the final opportunity to learn the facts of what happened. But many have been doing their own investigative work and have spent hours poring over news clippings and Internet sites to familiarize themselves with things like Federal Aviation Administration protocol and bank wire transfers flowing from overseas Qaeda operatives to the United States.

So no matter how much information becomes public, Ms. Eckert said, ''there will never be enough.''

After Wednesday's hearing, the relatives ticked off leads they wanted pursued, obscure to all but those steeped in the minutiae of the investigation.

Bill Doyle of Staten Island, a plaintiff in a $1 trillion lawsuit against the Saudi government whose son died in the trade center, wanted to know more about Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi student who befriended hijackers and helped pay their expenses.

Kristen Breitweiser, of Middletown, N.J., whose husband died in the trade center, insisted that Richard A. Clarke, President Bush's former counterterrorism adviser, had conducted a ''post-mortem report'' after the attacks, analyzing intelligence files for all mentions of Al Qaeda in the 18 months before Sept. 11, 2001. ''Where is that report?'' she demanded. ''Where are the findings?''

Ms. Van Auken was irate that there was no mention of an accusation that Gen. Mahmoud Ahmad, the head of Pakistan's intelligence services, ordered the transfer of $100,000 to Mr. Atta. As to the other details -- that the plot initially included attacks in Southeast Asia and that the original target list included the White House, the Capitol and buildings in Los Angeles and Seattle -- she was dismissive.

''We know all that,'' she said. ''They're missing key elements that tell the story.''

Not all the family members were critical of the commission.

''I think the commission has been unfairly criticized,'' said Carolee Azzarello of Greenbrook, N.J., whose brothers, Tim and John Grazioso, died in the attacks. ''I think some people want the commission to give them something on a platter, to say, these people are to blame, someone to point a finger at. For me, the person to point the finger at is Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Those are the people who killed my brothers.''

But Ms. Azzarello is not impartial; her husband, John, a former federal prosecutor, is on the commission staff. Asked if she knew the contents of the commission's report, she waved her palm in front of her face, as if to draw a wall. ''Part of me,'' she said, ''doesn't want to know.''

Throughout the commission's investigation, many of the Sept. 11 relatives have been deeply critical of the government and have insisted that the attacks could have been prevented. Wednesday's hearing, which also examined internal disagreements among the hijackers and operational difficulties that the commission staff said might have foiled a less flexible plot, seemed only to reinforce that perception.

''I am just appalled at the ease with which they had flight training,'' said Diane Horning, of Scotch Plains, N.J., whose 26-year-old son, Matthew, died in the attacks. ''I don't understand why at least some of that wasn't tracked.''

Others, like Steven Push, whose first wife died on Sept. 11, complained that the commission, which drew its account from the government's interrogation of captured Qaeda operatives who helped plan the attack, was basing its conclusions on hearsay. ''I think it was unfortunate that they didn't have direct access to the sources,'' Mr. Push said.

If there was a single word the family members used to describe Wednesday's hearing, it was ''disappointing,'' although one grieving father-in-law, Bruce DeCell, called it simply ''a waste of time.'' Mr. DeCell, who attends the sessions carrying a framed montage of thousands of tiny pictures of the victims, said Wednesday that he had given up hoping for answers from the commission.

''I really just come to let them know that I'm watching,'' he said, gesturing toward the poster,''and let them look at these faces of the innocent people who were murdered.''

Five Widows of 9/11 Attack Endorse Kerry

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/po...=1&oref=slogin

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Published: September 15, 2004

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 - Pronouncing themselves frightened and distrustful of President Bush, five women whose husbands died in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and a sixth who was injured that day at the Pentagon said Tuesday that they were supporting Senator John Kerry for president.

"My daughter, who is 5, is being handed a war of a lifetime," said Kristen Breitweiser of Middletown, N.J., who said she had voted for Mr. Bush in 2000. "I am scared for what can happen over the next four years."

Ms. Breitweiser spoke at a news conference where the women criticized the Bush administration over the war in Iraq, which they said had diverted resources from fighting terrorism and had fueled hatred of the United States. The other women endorsing Mr. Kerry were Patty Casazza of Colts Neck, N.J.; Monica Gabrielle of West Haven, Conn.; Mindy Kleinberg of East Brunswick, N.J.; Lorie Van Auken of East Brunswick, N.J.; and April Gallop of Woodbridge, Va., who was in the Pentagon.

As a group, the women have pressed the Bush administration and Congress to examine how the attacks happened and to recommend ways the country can protect itself. Their efforts played a major role in the creation of the Sept. 11 commission, which made recommendations for changes this summer.

But Ms. Breitweiser and the others said Tuesday that they could not trust Mr. Bush because they had encountered so much resistance from the government about the investigation and recommendations. They said efforts to meet with Mr. Bush were rebuffed. But Mr. Kerry "was gracious enough to meet with us," said Ms. Casazza, who also said she had voted for Mr. Bush in 2000.

Mr. Kerry said in a statement that the women's endorsement "sends a clear signal that much more needs to be done to make America safe."

Noting that many other relatives of victims of the attacks support Mr. Bush, Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the president's campaign, said: "The choice is clear for the American people. They have a choice between President Bush, a steady and principled leader, and John Kerry, whose chronic vacillating indecision and political gamesmanship have raised questions about his credibility for many Americans."

Preventing Another 9/11

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Published: December 28, 2004

To the Editor:

Re ''Global Intelligence Domination'' (editorial, Dec. 21): For three long years, those of us who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have put our personal healing aside in order to have a thorough investigation into the failures that allowed the horror to occur and to bring about reforms to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

When the Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002, 22 government agencies were placed under its purview. Congress should have been reorganized as well to ensure that its oversight committees would match the structure of the newly formed department. No such reorganization ever occurred.

As a result, there are approximately 88 committees and subcommittees performing a fractured version of Congressional oversight.

The 9/11 victims' families lobbied to have our intelligence community reformed because it was clearly broken. The price for its failures was the lives of our loved ones.

Until Congressional oversight is reorganized to be truly effective, the failures will continue, and ultimately we the people will pay the price.

Lorie Van Auken
Mindy Kleinberg
East Brunswick, N.J., Dec. 22, 2004

'Deep Throat,' a Mystery No More

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Published: June 2, 2005

To the Editor:

It was unbelievable yet predictable to see that Charles W. Colson and Patrick J. Buchanan, former Nixon administration officials, had something negative to say about W. Mark Felt. What a ridiculous notion to think that a whistle-blower could work within a corrupt system to air the misdoings of a corrupt administration!

With the revelations of Deep Throat, democracy did not shrivel up and die. Rather, democracy triumphantly prevailed because a corrupt administration was cleansed.

The press must continue to do its valiant job so that people who are aware of wrongdoing can come forth to unearth it. Brave whistle-blowers and a courageous press separate democracies from dictatorships. Salute the messenger; don't shield the criminals.

Mindy Kleinberg
Lorie Van Auken
East Brunswick, N.J., June 1, 2005

The writers are 9/11 widows.

Clinton Calls Comments on Widows Mean-Spirited

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/nyregion/08feud.html

By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
Published: June 8, 2006

WASHINGTON, June 7 — Hillary Rodham Clinton assailed the conservative commentator Ann Coulter on Wednesday for engaging in a "vicious, mean-spirited attack" on a group of 9/11 widows and in turn drew fire herself.

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In a new book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," Ms. Coulter accuses the women — who pushed the Bush White House to create a commission to investigate the government's failures before the 9/11 attacks — of being "self-obsessed" and acting "as if the terrorist attacks happened only to them."

"I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much," Ms. Coulter writes, according to The Associated Press.

"And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they better hurry up and appear in Playboy," The Daily News quoted the book as saying.

In taking on Ms. Coulter, Mrs. Clinton joined a chorus of critics — including relatives of Sept. 11 victims and politicians from both parties — who expressed outrage over the remarks.

Mrs. Clinton, who has been a target of Ms. Coulter's through the years, responded sharply when asked by reporters for her reaction to the author's views. "I know a lot of the widows and family members who lost loved ones on 9/11," she said. "They never wanted to be a member of a group that is defined by the tragedy of what happened."

Mrs. Clinton went on to say that she thought it was "unimaginable that anyone in the public eye could launch a vicious, mean-spirited attack on people whom I've known over the last four and a half years to be concerned deeply about the safety and security of our country.

"Perhaps her book should have been called 'Heartless,' " Mrs. Clinton said.

Asked to respond to Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Coulter sent an e-mail message claiming that Bill Clinton had grossly mistreated women. "Before criticizing others for being 'mean to women,' perhaps Hillary should talk to her husband," her e-mail message said in part.

Criticisms of Ms. Coulter's book on Wednesday came from Republicans as well. Gov. George E. Pataki of New York was harshly critical of Ms. Coulter's comments. "I was really stunned and I don't think it's at all fair or accurate," Mr. Pataki said, according to The Associated Press.

Ms. Coulter's attacks in the book were aimed at four New Jersey widows — Kristen Breitweiser, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza — known in Washington for their political activities, including pushing for the 9/11 commission and seeking more rigorous security measures.

The women issued a joint statement. "We have been slandered," the women said, according to The Associated Press. "Contrary to Ms. Coulter's statements, there was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive. There was no happiness in telling our children that their fathers were never coming home again. We adored these men and miss them every day."

Enshrining the Names of 9/11

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A9609C8B63

Published: July 7, 2006

To the Editor:

Re ''Naming Names at Ground Zero'' (editorial, July 5):

My husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was murdered on 9/11. We searched endlessly for him after 9/11 to no avail.

For the last four and a half years, I have searched for answers as to how my government could have failed so miserably to protect its citizens. The 9/11 commission didn't provide answers to those questions.

Thus, when we ultimately visit the World Trade Center memorial, we don't want to have to search for anything anymore. We would appreciate being able, at the very least, to locate our loved one's name without further effort.

I received no remains from Ken's body. This is where he spent his last moments on earth. Who could possibly think that it's a good idea to make it difficult to find our loved ones' names at this memorial?

Ken died with his co-workers. Nothing ''random'' about it.

Lorie Van Auken
East Brunswick, N.J., July 6, 2006

Birth of a 'Jersey Girl'

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...=&pagewanted=1

9/11/2006

Lorie Van Auken was not content to grieve quietly. Almost from the moment the towers fell, she raised her voice, demanding to know the answer to the big question: why? Why was the most powerful, well-defended nation in the world unable to stop a handful of men from killing nearly three thousand people, including her husband, Kenneth, a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald?

She wanted the officials who let the attacks happen held accountable. She wanted to do everything she could to fix the system. ''If you see a building on fire and you don't yell fire,'' she said, ''you're not really helping.''

Ms. Van Auken's activism, along with that of other survivors, led to the formation of the 9/11 Commission. She is one of the Jersey Girls, four widows who have been both hailed and criticized for their work. ''I know in my heart that when I put my head on my pillow, I can rest comfortable with what I did,'' she said. ''I didn't accomplish everything I set out to, but within our system, we did everything that we could do to make the changes that needed to be made.''

Ms. Van Auken does sometimes wonder, though, how her advocacy affected herself and her teenage son and daughter.

''I think the grieving process may have been slowed by our involvement,'' she said. ''My kids are five years older and I wonder where did that time go,'' she said. ''But I was grieving. I might have lost that time anyway.''

Iraq's Nuclear Data, For All to See

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C1A9609C8B63

Published: November 6, 2006

To the Editor:

Re ''U.S. Web Archive Is Said to Reveal Nuclear Primer'' (front page, Nov. 3):

Incredibly, the Bush administration, in a misguided effort once again to try to prove to the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, published Iraq's secret nuclear research on the Internet.

The experts tell us that this information constitutes ''a basic guide to building an atom bomb,'' a ''cookbook'' for terrorists who want to blow things up.

We were widowed on Sept. 11, 2001, and fought for the creation of the 9/11 independent commission to make America safer.

We would have thought that it would go without saying that ''there's a lot of things about nuclear weapons that are secret and should remain so,'' as you quote a former Energy Department official as saying.

The administration's penchant for keeping secrets and classifying information in the interest of what we are told is ''national security'' makes the fact that the administration revealed this dangerous data even more egregious.

It makes one wonder: Is national security threatened only if its contents shed unfavorable light on the Bush administration's bad policy decisions?

Lorie Van Auken
Mindy Kleinberg
East Brunswick, N.J., Nov. 3, 2006

End

Relatives of 9-11 Victims Distraught Over Report Bush Received Advance Warnings

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0516-09.htm

by David Crary
Associated Press
5/17/2002

NEW YORK –– Some relatives of Sept. 11 victims are seething over revelations that President Bush got advance warnings – not shared with the public – that Osama bin Laden's terror network might hijack U.S. planes.

"My wife, had she known, would not have taken that flight," said Stephen Push, whose wife of 21 years, Lisa Raines, was killed aboard the hijacked plane that hit the Pentagon.

"It's shameful that they know as much as they did and didn't warn anyone," said Push, of Great Falls, Va. "They put the business interests of the airlines above the lives of the citizens."

Members of a support group of September 11 widows, from left, Mindy Kleinberg, Krisiten Breitweiser, Patricia Casazza and Lorie Van Auken, pose in New Jersey, Thursday, May 16, 2002. Some relatives of September 11 victims, like Breitweiser, are seething over revelations that President Bush got advance warnings, not shared with the public, that Osama bin Laden's terror network might hijack U.S. planes. Breitweiser said she became convinced shortly after the attacks that U.S. authorities mishandled cluesthat could have helped avert the carnage. (AP Photos/Daniel Hulshizer)

Several relatives expressed hope Thursday that the revelations would intensify pressure for a high-powered investigation into possible intelligence and security failures preceding the attacks.

"For the safety of ourselves and our fellow citizens, we want an investigation to make sure something like Sept. 11 never, ever happens again," said Kristin Breitweiser, whose husband, Ronald, died at the World Trade Center.

She is part of group of Sept. 11 widows from New Jersey who are organizing a rally for victims' families and friends on June 11 at the U.S. Capitol. The purpose is to support a bill introduced by Sens. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., that would establish a national commission to investigate the attacks.

"I want accountability," Breitweiser said.

Breitweiser said she became convinced shortly after the attacks that U.S. authorities mishandled clues that could have helped avert the carnage. She also contended that Bush, if he had received private advance warnings, should have acted more decisively at the first signs of trouble on Sept. 11.

"They said they couldn't connect the dots, but once the dots were connected and the picture was drawn on the morning of 9/11, why did they do nothing?" she asked. "Why was the president allowed to sit for 35 minutes with a group of second graders when this country was under attack?"

Donn Marshall of Marbury, Md., whose wife, Shelley, died at the Pentagon, also questioned Bush' actions.

"It sort of makes you wonder where the get-tough president was when he was getting all this information, why they didn't react act more vigorously," Marshall said. "The notion that American planes might be hijacked, that should have caused more concern, even if we didn't think that they might be flown into things."

Bill Doyle of New York City, whose son, Joseph, was killed in the World Trade Center, said he has received numerous phone calls from other victims' relatives, all distraught over the recent revelations.

"I believe our whole government let people down," he said. "It's shocking, every time you turn on the TV, to see what's coming out in the wash."

"If our president was told in August, someone had to drop the ball at the airports," Doyle said. "Were they alerted by the FBI or the CIA?"

He suggested Bush make a personal statement that would address the families' concerns.

Yet some relatives refused to blame Bush or his administration for any security lapses.

"The groundwork for us winding up with a weak CIA and FBI, the weakening of our defense systems based on political correctness and expediency, happened long before Bush took office," said Sally Regenhard, whose son, Christian, was among the firefighters killed in New York.

She strongly endorsed the push for a high-level investigation.

"It's too late now for my son," she said. "But I do want to make the country safe. Right now, we're not there."

Theresa Riccardelli, whose husband, Francis, was killed at the World Trade Center, said she would reserve judgment on Bush until she gathered more information.

"A lot of this is hindsight, and nothing can change the fact that my husband isn't coming back," said Riccardelli, of Westwood, N.J. "But it will be interesting to watch over the next couple of months, and find out what they knew and what they did or didn't do."

Peggy Neff, who lost her partner of 17 years, Sheila Hein, at the Pentagon, said the government probably could not have done more to prevent the attacks.

"Could they? I doubt it," said Neff, of Hyattsville, Md. "It's time to put aside the anger ... it's time to start the grieving process properly so that we can find closure."

Neff said she was "more annoyed" at the news that Republican fund-raisers were selling photos of Bush taken on Sept. 11.

"It's Republican exploitation of an event that shouldn't be exploited," she said.