Military Channel Pays Tribute to U.S. Troops and Elite Forces With the 2011 NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PA

On the heels of a national victory in the war against terrorism and in honor of the approaching 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Military Channel joins nearly 300,000 Americans as they rally behind our troops at the American Veterans Center's 2011 NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE in Washington, DC. During the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, countless servicemen and -women made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and this year, thanks to the heroic actions of the Navy SEALs and other elite military forces, we focus more than ever on the true meaning of Memorial Day: honoring those who have fought bravely in defense of America's freedom and that of people around the world. THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE will air live on Monday, May 30 from 2-4 PM ET on the Military Channel.

"In a day and age when more and more of small town America opts to cancel local festivities, THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE remains not only the country's largest Memorial Day celebration, but a beacon of patriotic spirit reminding us that this day holds real significance for the men and women it intends to honor," said James C. Roberts, president of the American Veterans Center, the non-profit educational organization that founded the parade and is dedicated year-round to preserving and promoting the legacy of America's troops.

"It has never been more crucial for us to pause and thank veterans and active duty service members who have fought to preserve every American's liberties. Military Channel's live coverage of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE provides a new opportunity for America to recognize its greatest heroes and memorialize those who have fallen in service to their country," said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager, Military Channel and Investigation Discovery.

As America approaches the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE will devote a very special segment to remembering the heroes of that day. The parade will also include a tribute to the Special Operations tactical teams that are currently leading the fight in Afghanistan, a commemoration of the Centennial of Naval Aviation, and recognitions of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War II and the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War. Special guests will include musical performers, celebrity veterans and supporters of the military, including Pat Sajak, Gary Sinise, Buzz Aldrin, and Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan. Hosts Major Garrett, Leeann Tweeden and Alyse Zwickwill call the action of THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE for Military Channel's viewers. Additionally school marching bands from across the country and military bands will provide patriotic music throughout the parade as they march through the streets of our nation's capital.

For more than 70 years, our nation's capital was without a parade on the Armed Services' most sacred day. In 2005, the American Veterans Center brought this tradition back to Washington by creating THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY PARADE. For additional information, please visit www.nationalmemorialdayparade.com.

9/11 A Decade Later: Flight 93 Memorial Draws 1.4M Visitors To Rural PA

The National September 11th Memorial in Lower Manhattan that is set to open this September has been in the center of many high-profile contentious debates, but another important September 11th memorial in Pennsylvania is in the works. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

In Somerset County, Pennsylvania stands a cross made of steel from the World Trade Center, which reminds onlookers of the connection the small town of Shanksville has with the events of September 11, 2001.



A cross in Shankville made of steel from the World Trade Center. A field in the town is where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers battled hijackers for control of the plane. All 40 passengers and crew members were killed after the hijackers deliberately crashed the plane.

“When the plane crashed here, it was only 15 minutes by air to Washington, D.C.,” says Flight 93 Site Manager Jeff Reinbold.

Reinbold's mission is to create a fitting national memorial on the 2,000-acre field.

“We felt very strongly that this design needed to be about this place and that this place was very different that New York or Washington, D.C.," says Reinbold.

Though only a temporary memorial exists now, longtime site volunteer Marlin Miller says it has not stopped over 1.4 million people from visiting.

“It’s been a sense of honor that we are able to extend hospitality, and to volunteer and to welcome people,” says Miller.



A plan for the Flight 93 Memorial. Click to enlarge. When the $60 million first phase of the memorial is complete this September, visitors will be able walk along the flight path and read the names of the 40 victims inscribed on marble walls.

“The remains of the passengers and crew are still here. They are on site," says Reinbold. “We treat the crash site as a cemetery that’s not open to the public, but the public will have the chance to get right up against the edge of it.”

Eventually, the Flight 93 National Memorial will also feature a visitors and education center, memorial groves and a 93-feet-tall tower to honor the victims killed that day.

The project is expected to be complete in 2014.

Malibu Sculptor’s 9/11 Memorial Cross Embarks on Cross-Country Trek to Ground Zero

Malibu sculptor Jon Krawczyk’s 14-foot-high stainless steel memorial cross for the victims of 9/11 received a fitting send-off Tuesday evening at Bluffs Park. A crowd of nearly 100 well-wishers gathered to hear Krawczyk talk about the inspiration and meaning behind his work of art.

The next day, Krawczyk took the cross on a cross-country tour that will include at least 10 official stops, including the sites of the 9/11 attacks and several fire stations. The final destination will be St. Peter’s Church, located a block from Ground Zero in Manhattan.

Nearly a dozen representatives from Malibu Fire Stations 70 and 88 were at Tuesday's event. Father Bill Kerze from Our Lady of Malibu blessed the cross with holy water.

"I’m very honored to be invited here to bless this cross," Kerze said. "For Christians, the cross is the symbol. My prayer is that this cross will be an instrument of peace, understanding and reconciliation; an instrument in which people who are grieving can receive consolation. I hope people who have been hurt can be opened to the goodness of human beings.”

The sculpture is an artistic version of a Christian cross, and it will be polished to a mirror finish once it reaches St. Peter's. It is accompanied by three steel remnants from the Twin Towers that will be attached later. The names of all the 9/11 victims will be entered into a stainless steel book at the base of the cross. There is also a slot for people to drop notes with their wishes and prayers. A number of Malibu residents offered their notes.

"I think this is a blessing," said Wailani O’Herlihy, a Malibu resident who attended the event with her daughter. "They're carrying this across the United States and taking it to New York. I hope it blesses a lot of people across the U.S.”

Days after the dust cleared from the Twin Towers attack, rescuers discovered a 20-foot-tall steel crossbeam (shaped like a Christian cross) stuck in the ground at Ground Zero. Its symbolism was not lost on those clearing the rubble. The I-beam “cross” from the World Trade Center, also known as the Ground Zero Cross, was mounted on a concrete pillar in 2003. It became a shrine, a place for mourners to write the names of the deceased and a place to hold services.

It was moved in 2006 to St. Peter's during construction. Officials will soon move it again to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero. Krawczyk was asked by a St. Peters’ parishioner if he could create a replacement for it.

Krawczyk has a personal reason for wanting to build a 9/11 memorial. He is a native of Morristown, N.J. and 25 people from his high school were killed in the attacks. The following inscription will appear on Krawczyk’s finished piece:

The cross is a symbol of hope. It speaks of life’s journey and to life’s limitless potential. For the innocent, whose lives were taken from them, this cross stands as a memorial. For the courageous, who faced death so others might live, this cross stands as a tribute. For all of us, walking the streets today, this stands as an invitation to reflect on who we are and the people we believe we can be one day

Somerset Co. Businesses Prepare For 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Posted: 2:08 pm EDT May 19, 2011
Updated: 2:26 pm EDT May 19, 2011

SOMERSET, Pa. -- Somerset County is bracing for what's expected to be a record tourist season.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and the first phase of the Flight 93 National Memorial is expected to be complete.

On Thursday, the county's business community got a head start on preparing for thousands of anticipated visitors.

Officials said an estimated 350,000 people are expected to visit the county this year, which is 250,000 more than the county usually welcomes each year. Many businesses have already seen a boost from tourists who travel to pay their respects at the Flight 93 Memorial.

In response, the Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the Allegany College of Maryland to host a breakfast meeting for business leaders. Participants got a refresher from the National Park Service on the memorial's design and a rundown of the planned events on Sept. 10 and 11. They also got a look at how to maximize the huge boost in tourism.

Ron Aldom of the Chamber of Commerce said, "We really need to be at our best. We need to be able to connect and give people the best experience that we can. Not only do we need to provide services, But we need to make them really appreciate being here, staying here and return here."

Additional classes will be held through June. For more information, call the Somerset Campus of Allegany College of Maryland at 814-445-9848.

Stay with WJACTV.com, WJAC-TV News and WJACTV.com Mobile for continuing coverage.

Saratoga Springs sculpture will resurrect 9/11 steel

The steel lies bent, ripped and twisted in the soggy yard at the steel-fabrication plant in Gansevoort. It makes no sound, but speaks a language all Americans understand.

In 3 1/2 months, residents of the Capital Region will become part of the conversation when a large sculpture fashioned from the beams is unveiled outside the Saratoga Springs City Center. The five pieces, weighing from 2,000 to 10,000 pounds, once stood straight and pure as part of the World Trade Center.

When the terrorist-stricken towers collapsed 10 years ago, they became part of the rubble -- and then part of the approximately 1 percent of the steel preserved by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the 110-story buildings. The salvaged steel was stockpiled in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport for distribution to groups and communities, primarily for memorials.

Using the steel for art has been much rarer, says Elizabeth Dubben, project manager for the sculpture and director of exhibitions for Saratoga Arts, the nonprofit organization that is overseeing the project. She says she believes it will be the first large sculpture of World Trade Center steel in the country.

Called "Tempered by Memory," the sculpture is being created by Capital Region artists John Van Alstine and Noah Savett. They've worked as sculptors for decades and exhibited many outdoor pieces.

"We're chomping at the bit to get going," Savett said last week.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Tempered-by-Memory-1387212.php#ixzz1MvzXqWS2

Al-Qaida Planned Attack on 9/11 Ten Year Anniversary

U.S. officials say an initial review of documents seized from Osama bin Laden's compound shows al-Qaida considered carrying out a terrorist plot against the United States on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

A Homeland Security Department document obtained Thursday by U.S. news organizations says al-Qaida considered an operation against trains at an unspecified location in the United States.

The document says al-Qaida thought about tampering with rail tracks so a train would fall off the tracks in a valley or over bridge.

U.S. officials say they have no evidence the plot was active.

This information appears to be the first widely circulated intelligence stemming from the raid Sunday by an elite U.S. Navy SEAL team on bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad. In the raid, the Navy SEALs killed bin Laden and took documents and other valuable intelligence information.

On Friday, Mr. Obama will meet with members of the Navy SEAL team that carried out the attack. The president will travel to Fort Campbell in Kentucky to personally thank the SEALs and other members of the U.S. military for their service.

President Obama has decided not to release the death photos of bin Laden, saying the graphic images would create a national security risk and could incite violence.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks on the United States. Al-Qaida hijackers crashed two planes into the twin towers in New York and one into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Defense Department, minutes outside Washington. A fourth plane went down in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought with the hijackers.

On Thursday, President Obama laid a wreath at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center buildings in New York to pay tribute to the thousands killed in the al-Qaida attacks. Thousands of people lined the streets around Ground Zero, hoping to get a glimpse of Mr. Obama during his visit.

The president led a moment of silence for the victims. He was joined by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Mr. Obama also privately met with relatives of those killed.

Also Thursday, the president told firefighters the death of bin Laden sends a message around the world that the United States will never forget the September 11 attacks.

Mr. Obama made the comments while meeting with first responders at a firehouse that lost 15 men in the attacks. He also visited a local police station whose officers were the first on the scene on September 11.

Some information for this report provided by AP

NYPD: Remember the Heroes

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • President Barack Obama and New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, left, meet with police officers and first responders at the First Precinct before visiting the National Sept. 11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York, Thursday, May 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Obama made a brief but solemn visit to the site of Osama bin Laden's most heinous crime Thursday, meeting with first responders and the family members of 9/11 victims in his first trip to New York since the al Qaeda leader's death.

At the World Trade Center site itself, he made no speeches, simply leaving a wreath composed of red, white and blue flowers in front of what has come to be known as the "Survivor Tree." Then Obama walked over to 14-year-old Payton Wall, whose father was killed nearby nearly ten years ago, and gave her a hug.

"We just talked," Wall told television crews after her meeting with the president, which was prompted by a letter she wrote him just days ago. She was joined by her younger sister, a friend who also lost a parent on 9/11, and her mother.

Before that visit to Lower Manhattan, Obama met with a group of New York City firefighters in a station that lost 15 members on September 11, 2001. Bin Laden's death, he said in his most extensive public remarks, sent a message "that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."

And, he added pointedly, he believed that "when those guys took those extraordinary risks going into Pakistan, that they were doing it in part because of the sacrifices that were made in the States. They were doing it in the name of your brothers that were lost."

Although some on the right had contended that Obama's visit to New York would serve as little more than a "victory lap," including, supposedly, an anonymous member of the George W. Bush camp, the mood throughout the day was somber. The trip was Obama's first to Ground Zero since 2008.

After he laid the wreath just steps from where the World Trade Center towers once stood, Obama had a private meeting with about 60 family members.

Story continues below
For Lee Ielpi, a retired member of the FDNY whose firefighter son died responding to the attack on the World Trade Center, that meeting was "casual." He noted that "there was no script. I was impressed, he spoke from the heart, he was very sincere, he spoke about the mission and that it was accomplished, which I really thought was very nice."

Navy SEAL Team 6 Dog K9

The word circulating among news outlets is that a single dog was involved in the Osama bin Laden raid. According to the UK Sun, dogs (typically German Shepherds) involved in Navy SEAL operations are usually strapped with armor and cameras to sniff for explosives, attack armed foes and provide valuable intel for soldiers.
Heavily armoured hounds - equipped with infrared night-sight cameras - have been used in the past by the top-secret unit.

The war dogs wear ballistic body armour that is said to withstand damage from single and double-edged knives, as well as protective gear which shields them from shrapnel and gunfire.

It's been previously reported that a company called K9 storm has a government contract for these poochie vests, which come in both knife-proof and camera-mountable models.

[UK Sun]

http://gizmodo.com/#!5798745/the-navy-seal-team-6-dog-is-a-bigger-badass-than-you

FDNY: NEVER FORGET THE HEROES

By Tina Susman and Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

May 5, 2011, 9:27 a.m.
Reporting from New York and Los Angeles— President Obama on Thursday arrived on a mission of commemoration and compassion in New York, where he met with firefighters and will lay a wreath at the site of the fallen World Trade Center, brought down by Al Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.

Obama, whose approval rating has bumped upward after Sunday's foray against the United States' most wanted fugitive, also will meet with relatives of some those killed in the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, and with some of the firefighters and police who were among the first responders when the plane struck the office towers in lower Manhattan. It is Obama's first visit to the site since becoming president, though he went there as a candidate.

Obama landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 10:39 a.m. EDT and was greeted by a crowd on the tarmac. He traveled by helicopter to Wall Street, where he arrived shortly after 11 a.m. Two fire trucks and two presidential limos were parked there. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was in office when the attack took place, was there as well.

President Obama first visited the "Pride of Midtown" Firehouse, Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. The firehouse lost 15 on 9/11 — an entire shift and more than any other New York firehouse. The firefighters killed that day had 28 children. Photographs of the dead line the wall, accompanied by messages from their families.

"This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day almost 10 years ago," Obama told the firefighters and dignitaries. "Obviously, you can't bring back the friends you lost.

"You're always going to have a president and an administration who's got your back," he promised.

From the firehouse, the president headed to the World Trade Center where he was to place a wreath at a spot amid a grove of trees. One tree, a callery pear, survived the attacks. It was moved off the site and now has been returned. Obama will place his wreath on a spot that sits in the shadow of the famous tree.

Buildings in various states of construction surround the plaza, which is in a large square carved into the ground that is the footprint of what used to be the South Tower of the trade center. When the site is finished, the square and another one where the North Tower used to stand will be filled with water to create reflecting pools.

En route to New York, press secretary Jay Carney said the visit was designed to be a cathartic moment.

"The president believes it's appropriate and fitting to travel to New York this week in the wake of the successful mission to bring Osama bin Laden to justice in order to recognize the terrible loss that New York suffered on 9/11 and to acknowledge the burden that families of the victims and the loved ones of the victims have been carrying with them since 9/11, almost 10 years," Carney told reporters on Air Force One. It is "an effort to perhaps help New Yorkers and Americans everywhere to achieve a sense of closure."

By 9 a.m., more than four hours before the president's scheduled arrival at the site known as ground zero, the area was choked with police, tourists and fans waving American flags, chanting, "Obama got Osama!" Irritated commuters pushed through the crowds.

"I think it's a great thing for America but also a great thing for all free nations," said Mark Harrington, a tourist from Adelaide, Australia, as he took pictures of a small group of locals clad in red, white and blue top hats and coats, shouting, "God bless America" and "God bless the Navy SEALs" and sentiments such as, "It shows that we'll track you down, no matter where you hide. It may take 10 years, but we'll get you."

Behind him, across a narrow street lined with metal security gates erected by police, cranes loomed hundreds of feet into the sky from the hole where the World Trade Center once stood. Developers are rushing to make progress at the site, which remains a massive construction zone, before the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The site was a scene of tragedy but also marked a high point of the presidency of George W. Bush, when he stood amid the rubble, calling for national unity and promising the world that the United States would bring Bin Laden to justice for the destruction and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in New York. Obama had invited Bush to appear with him in New York, but the former president, who tries to keep out of the limelight, begged off.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer said the president's visit, which will include a private meeting with victims' families after the wreath-laying, was an important way of helping the relatives, many of whom are bitter about the decision to bury Bin Laden at sea and some of the plans for the memorial museum that include unidentified remains, such as bone chips.

"It says to the families who lost loved ones we will never ever forget you," Schumer said.

Deanne Mcdonald of Brooklyn agreed. She said she had come to the area outside ground zero early Thursday to show her support for Obama and the families.

"The lost souls ... are rejoicing in heaven," she said of the victims. "They are so happy that mission was accomplished."

That feeling of elation has been a constant thread throughout political discussions since Obama announced in a Sunday night speech to the nation that Bin Laden had been killed in a raid by U.S. forces. Polls also show that Americans credit the military and intelligence communities for the success of the raid.

Obama has gained, according to all polls, though the degree of improved approval varies. Polls showed that Americans saw Obama as a good leader and effective on national security issues, though there were still sizable worries about the economy and related economic issues. Most observers had expected Obama to receive a bump in popularity, but it was unclear how long it would last as the 2012 presidential cycle heated up.

Obama came to New York after deciding not to release photographs of Bin Laden after he was shot.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked jets and flew two of them into the World Trade Center's twin towers. A third plane slammed into the Pentagon. Officials believe a fourth plane had been heading for Washington when passengers fought to reclaim the craft and it crashed in Pennsylvania.

tina.susman@latimes.com

michael.muskal@latimes.com

Obama at Ground Zero: 'We will never forget'

"When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say," Obama said today during a stop en route to a wreath laying at the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood
By David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama speaking to firefighters today in New York.CAPTIONBy JEWEL SAMAD, AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Obama told crew members at a New York fire station that lost 15 comrades on 9/11 that the death of Osama bin Laden sends a strong message to the nation and to the world.

"When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say," Obama said today during a stop en route to a wreath laying at the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

Located in midtown at 48th Street and Eighth Avenue, the "Pride of Midtown Firehouse" -- one of the busiest in the world -- lost 15 people after the attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Arriving to the applause of nearby crowd, Obama greeted each member of the company and then stopped to examine a plaque bearing the names of those who gave their lives on 9/11.

"This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day," Obama told company members.




Ground Zero.CAPTIONBy Seth Wenig, AP"I wanted to come here to thank you," Obama said.



The president then went in to lunch with crew now assigned to engine company 54, ladder 4, battalion 9. The president joked that he also visited the firehouse because "I hear the food was pretty good."

Obama is scheduled to lay a wreath at Ground Zero itself around 1:25 p.m.

In his remarks, Obama also said that the commitment to making sure justice was done "is something that transcended politics, transcended party."




Spokesman Jay Carney said Obama wanted to visit the city in the wake of bin Laden's death "in order to recognize the terrible loss that New York suffered on 9/11 and to acknowledge the burden that families of the victims and the loved ones of the victims have been carrying with them since 9/11."


After a short plane ride from Washington, Obama choppered to a landing zone near Wall Street shortly after 11 a.m., with two limos and a pair of firetrucks waiting.

Also on hand to greet Obama: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city after the World Trade Center attack.

During the visit to the firehouse, Obama lauded Giuliani for his "heroic acts" on 9/11.

President Obama Visits FDNY "Pride of Midtown"

President Obama made a pilgrimage to a Manhattan firehouse Thursday that lost more than a dozen men on 9/11 - just five days after he green-lighted the execution of their killer, Osama Bin Laden.

It was the first stop on a triumphal-but-solemn tour of the city that will take Obama to Ground Zero for the first time as President.

Obama was expected to break bread with the city's Bravest at the "Pride of Midtown" firehouse, where the names of the 15 firefighters who perished in the ruins of the World Trade Center are immortalized on a plaque.

By noon, Obama should be at Ground Zero.

There will be no triumphal speech about dispatching Navy SEALs to slay the dragon who brought down the twin towers.

This visit, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, is "to help New Yorkers and Americans everywhere to achieve a sense of closure."

"The president believes it's appropriate and fitting to travel to New York this week in the wake of the successful mission to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice," Carney said.

Obama is here to "recognize the terrible loss that New York suffered on 9/11, and to acknowledge the burden that families of the victims and the loved ones of the victims have been carrying with them since 9/11," he said.

So rather than speak, Obama will solemnly lay a wreath in memory of the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 attacks - with most TV networks carrying the ceremony live.

Obama will then meet privately with still-grieving mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and spouses gathered in the crucible of America's pain.

"This visit is about thanking and I just want to thank him," Charles Wolf, whose wife Katherine was killed in the terror attack, and who will be meeting Obama for the first time, told MSNBC.

"This was a really gutsy decision that he did. I think it was the turning point of his presidency."

Obama has carved out three hours at Ground Zero. He will be joined there by New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo.

He has also invited Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki, who were the mayor and governor during those dark days, sources said

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/05/2011-05-05_president_obama_heads_to_ground_zero_to_mark_death_of_osama_bin_laden.html#ixzz1LUpJjSjC

Firefighter and Former Seal Reflects on Bin Laden News

By Kyle Midura


(Story Updated: May 4, 2011 at 7:19 PM MDT )

BILLINGS - As a firefighter and Former Navy SEAL, the assistant fire chief here in Billings has a unique perspective on the death of Osama bin Laden.

Since 9/11, a picture showing a firefighter handing the American Flag out of the Twin Towers' rubble to a soldier abroad has hung on Billings Assistant Fire Chief Frank Odermann's wall. For him, it's a powerful image symbolic of America's resilience in the face of a terrorist attack, and the country's unwillingness to forget the atrocity of that day.

"I really have been on both sides of that," he said Wednesday. Odermann spent 20 years with the Navy SEALs. He says when the news broke, he was nearly certain his former colleagues were responsible for the feat.

"This kind of work is in SEAL team's backyard; it's our bread and butter," he said, "the SEALs were definitely the pointy end that went in and got the job done, but there are so many more people who really deserve credit."

Odermann says the SEALs spend decades training for just that type of mission. "Just getting to SEAL team is a little bit of an endeavor itself and then going on to SEAL team six is another step for sure," he said.

He added that the team's success sends a clear message to America's enemies. "And, maybe more importantly it provides a tremendous boost in morale for our citizens, emergency workers, and most importantly for those soldiers over there carrying a heavy load."

"This isn't about SEAL team, this is really about the U.S. military's capability," he said.

Odermann says it's been a privilege to serve the public abroad with the SEALs and at home as a firefighter

http://www.kulr8.com/home/related/Local-Firefighter-and-Former-Seal-Reflects-on-Bin-Laden-News-121291754.html

FDNY firefighters react to bin Laden's death

By FireRescue1 Staff
NEW YORK — Firefighters from the department hit hardest by the 9/11 terror attacks are relieved Osama bin Laden has finally been brought to justice.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack at the World Trade Center killed 343 firefighters and is the largest fire service LODD incident in U.S. history.

Shortly after President Obama announced the death, FDNY firefighters spoke on video amid chants of "USA!" in Times Square.

"It's a very good day for the New York City Fire Department, for the City of New York, for the nation and especially for our families," said Firefighter Jack Joyce.


"There's a closure now. There's some type of closure for us."

"Osama Bin Laden was responsible for killing 343 members of the FDNY on Sept. 11, 2001. Tonight, in firehouses throughout the city, our members are grateful for the news, and thankful to all the brave members of the U.S. military that had a role in this successful operation," FDNY Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano said in an official statement.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


LINK TO VIDEO

http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-news/1035576-video-fdny-firefighters-react-to-bin-ladens-death/

Rise of Freedom: 9/11 Memorial to Display the Victims' Names

This September names will be unveiled at the National September 11th Memorial in New York City. The names of those killed in 1993. The names of those killed at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania and at the Twin Towers themselves will line the pools that mark the buildings footprints.

It isn’t an uncommon way to memorialize those we lose too soon. The Vietnam Memorial and The National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington DC as well as the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado all list the names of those who have sacrificed their lives for us.

But, the memorial at what was Ground Zero has expanded on that idea. Joe Daniels, President of the

National September 11 Memorial & Museum, “This memorial, that we are opening on the 10th anniversary, is designed in a way that’s different than any other memorial that’s ever been built in the world.”

Go to http://names.911memorial.org/. That site will allow you to explore how the names are arranged and learn more about the lives and people beyond the names.

Secret Stealth Helicopter used in Bin Laden Raid

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , RHONDA SCHWARTZ, LEE FERRAN and AVNI PATEL
May 4, 2011
Before an elite team of U.S. Navy SEALs executed a daring raid that took down Osama bin Laden, the commandos were able to silently sneak up on their elusive target thanks to what aviation analysts said were top secret, never-before-seen stealth-modified helicopters.

In the course of the operation that cost the al Qaeda leader his life, one of the two Blackhawk helicopters that carried the SEALs into bin Laden's Pakistani compound grazed one of the compound's wall and was forced to make a hard landing. With the chopper inoperable, at the end of the mission the SEALs destroyed it with explosives.

But photos of what survived the explosion -- the tail section of the craft with curious modifications -- has sent military analysts buzzing about a stealth helicopter program that was only rumored to exist. From a modified tail boom to a noise reducing covering on the rear rotors and a special high-tech material similar to that used in stealth fighters, former Department of Defense official and vice president of the Lexington Institute Dan Goure said the bird is like nothing he's ever seen before.

European PressPhoto Agency
Photographs taken after a Navy SEAL team... View Full Size

European PressPhoto Agency
Photographs taken after a Navy SEAL team raided Osama bin Laden?s compound in Pakistan show the wreckage of one helicopter that clipped a rotor on a compound wall, was abandoned and destroyed. Osama Bin Laden: Fact or Fiction? Watch Video
Navy SEAL Who Shot Osama Bin Laden Watch Video
Pakistan Outraged Over Bin Laden's Death Watch Video
"This is a first," he said. "You wouldn't know that it was coming right at you. And that's what's important, because these are coming in fast and low, and if they aren't sounding like they're coming right at you, you might not even react until it's too late... That was clearly part of the success."

In addition to the noise-reducing modifications, a former special operations aviator told The Army Times the general shape of what was left of the craft -- the harsh angles and flat surfaces more common to stealth jets -- was further evidence it was a modified variant of the Blackhawk.

A senior Pentagon official told ABC News the Defense Department would "absolutely not" comment on anything relating to the destroyed bird.




Neighbors of bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, told ABC News they didn't hear the helicopters the night of the Sunday raid until they were directly overhead. The rotor covering, along with a special rotor design, suppressed the choppers noise while inbound, Bill Sweetman, editor and chief of Defense Technology International, said.

"Helicopters make a very distinctive percussive rotor sound which is caused by their rotor blades and if you can blend that down, of course that makes a noise that is much less likely to be heard and much more likely to blend into any background noise that there is," Sweetman said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/top-secret-stealth-helicopter-program-revealed-osama-bin/story?id=13530693

Obama Ground Zero visit details: President to visit first responders, lay wreath amid tight security

President Obama will make no triumphal speech when he visits Ground Zero on Thursday to mark the death of Osama Bin Laden - the monster who brought the Twin Towers down.

Instead, Obama will lay a wreath in the memory of the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and save his words for private chats with relatives and friends of the victims gathered in the crucible of New York City's pain.

"The power of that requires no words," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the planned wreath-laying ceremony. "It will be a bittersweet moment for many of the families."

Obama is expected to spend about three hours at Ground Zero - his first visit to the site since 2008, when he was running for president.

The President has marked subsequent 9/11 anniversaries in Washington and was expected to return to New York this September for the 10th anniversary.

The successful killing of Bin Laden on Sunday, which capped a frustrating, decade-long manhunt for the terrorist, changed Obama's itinerary, officials said.

Before going Downtown, Obama will meet with some of the city's Bravest who lost colleagues in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Although the police have received no credible reports of threats against Obama, there will be numerous street closings wherever the presidential motorcade rolls, sources said.

Mailboxes and garbage cans along the motorcade route will be removed to deny would-be terrorists a place to plant a bomb - and manholes covers may be welded shut.

Police sharpshooters will be patrolling the rooftops, sources said.

In addition to a "major uniformed police presence," sources said plainclothes cops will be out in force to protect the President.

Also, PATH service in and out of the World Trade Center will be suspended while Obama is in the neighborhood.

Obama's visit comes just days after he green-lighted the Navy SEAL assault that wiped out Bin Laden at his hideout in Pakistan.

Obama's upcoming visit harkens back to then-President George W. Bush's journey to the site days after the 9/11 attacks, when he famously grabbed a bullhorn and rallied the nation from atop the pile of rubble.

Bush, who was one of the first people Obama called when Bin Laden was bagged, declined an invitation to join in the visit to Ground Zero.

Obama has also invited Rudy Giuliani, who was New York's mayor during those dark days, sources said.

With Celeste Katz, Rocco Parascandola and Kenneth Lovett

agendar@nydailynews.com

US Attorney General: Bin Laden killing was legally justified

The killing of Osama bin Laden was legally justified, and would have been even if the al-Qaida leader had made some sign that he wished to surrender, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday.

.."The operation in which Osama bin Laden was killed was lawful," Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He was the head of al-Qaida, an organization that had conducted the attacks of September 11th. He admitted his involvement and he indicated that he would not be taken alive. The operation against bin Laden was justified as an act of national self defense."

Video: Officials: Bin Laden unarmed when shot (on this page)
Holder said bin Laden was a legitimate military target and he had made no attempt to surrender to the U.S. forces that stormed his fortified compound near Islamabad on Monday. He was shot in the chest and head.

It was lawful to target an enemy commander in the field and the mission was conducted in the way that was consistent with U.S. laws and values, Holder testified, adding that it was a "kill or capture mission."

"If he had attempted to surrender, I think we should obviously have accepted that, but there was no indication that he wanted to do that. And therefore his killing was appropriate," Holder said.

U.S. acknowledgment on Tuesday that bin Laden was unarmed when killed had raised accusations Washington had violated international law. Exact circumstances of his death remained unclear.


Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42900659/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

.These Are The Weapons Used To Take Down Bin Laden

.These Are The Weapons Used To Take Down Bin Laden
Details are emerging about the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.


The terrorist leader was located in a compound protected by concrete walls and barbed wire.

The secret 'Seal Team 6' led the attack. A SEAL team typically has eight members.



They were transported in modified MH-60 helicopters. One was destroyed by special forces after it appeared to stall over the compound. Planners were reportedly terrified of another Black Hawk Down scenario, when a downed helicopter stranded troops in enemy territory. However, they were able to depart in a reinforcement craft.

Former Navy SEAL On Bin Laden's Death: 'I Slept Well'

ATLANTA -- Channel 2 is learning more about the elite team of Navy SEALs who carried out the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

It's known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or Team Six, and this may be the first time government officials have publicly acknowledged one of its missions.

"I slept well last night; I felt very proud," former Navy SEAL Dante Stephensen told Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer.

Stephensen was a Navy SEAL before there were Navy SEALs; they were called Frogmen back then.

It's a team so elite, that of his class of 126, only 11 graduated. And in the 1960s when they transitioned to SEALs, Stephensen was an operations and training officer for one of the first teams. He wasn't surprised the president called on SEALs for the bin Laden mission.

"It's a level of elation without question, it's a level of pride, it proves to the naysayers that our kind of unit is needed to help the free world stay free," said Stephensen.

He said the elite of the elite, Team Six, has always been legendary. He said you couldn't apply for that job, you had to be asked. He said he's been on dozens of dangerous missions, most of them, none of us have heard of.

"I was in in the period where there was no press, and I've got to say it would have been nice that the world knew who we were. But that was secondary, we had a job to do. I don't think the guys in Six brag about it," Stephensen said.

But they have plenty of reason to: a nearly flawless mission, with no American casualties and the body of Osama bin Laden recovered. Stephensen said the key to that kind of success is precision and training.

"If you make a mistake, you're all dead. So you create in a simulation, a movie set, the exact thing that could happen and everybody's watching, and then you critique it," said Stephensen.

Copyright 2011 by WSBTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

9/11 families react to bin Laden's death with relief, sadness

NEW YORK —The killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. troops tore into a decade-old wound for families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks he led.


By Elise Amendola, AP
From left, Danielle and Carie Lemack and Christy Coombs grieve at Boston's Garden of Remembrance, a memorial dedicated to the 206 Massachusetts victims of 9/11.
EnlargeCloseBy Elise Amendola, AP
From left, Danielle and Carie Lemack and Christy Coombs grieve at Boston's Garden of Remembrance, a memorial dedicated to the 206 Massachusetts victims of 9/11.
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www.APUS.edu/InternationalRelations
For the 9/11 families, as they are known, gratitude mixed with relief and visceral joy.

"My only regret was not being with the team that went into the compound," said Fred Infante of Chatham, N.J., whose brother, Anthony, was a police officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He died while helping evacuate workers from the World Trade Center.

But the news also brought back intensely the pain of 10 years ago, making the death of bin Laden another emotional hurdle for families, just as the looming anniversary will be. And after two wars and bombings in Madrid and London, there also was awareness that no single act could end the specter of terrorism.

PHOTO: World reacts to bin Laden's death
MORE: Full coverage of bin Laden's death
"It's the end of a chapter, it's just not the end of the story,'' said Diane Horning, whose son Matthew died in the World Trade Center.

Contributing: ; Theresa Juva, Bob Baird, Jane Lerner, Alex Taylor, Ned P. Rauch and Thane Grauel contributed to this report.

Elation over bin Laden's death gives way to reflection

By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY

Brian Ball, his wife Ashley and son Padraig were drawn to visit the Pentagon Memorial after hearing of Osama bin Laden's death. Brian's friend Daniel Caballero was killed when a plane struck the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

But for many — from frolicking college students who'd grown up amid the anxiety cast by bin Laden's shadow, to relatives of the nearly 3,000 slaughtered in the 9/11 attacks, for whom he was the sum of all evil — the moment was so sweet, so potent, that it even had the potential to change the meaning of Ground Zero itself.

The al-Qaeda leader's death at the hands of U.S. special forces in Pakistan also reaffirmed the notion that sooner or later, America usually gets its man — be it Iraq's Saddam Hussein (captured 2003, executed 2006), al-Qaeda's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (captured 2003) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (killed 2006), or the biggest catch of all.

"This sends a tremendous message to the bad guys in this world," said John Wroblewski of Jefferson, N.J., whose son J.T. joined the Marines after 9/11 — because of 9/11, his father emphasized — and died in Iraq in 2004. "If you're going to fool, or if you're going to mess with the United States, we're going to get you."

It was a day when New York City's Ground Zero, long a place of almost unmitigated sorrow, fear, anger and contention, finally became one of celebration. Mary Small, 65 — in New York from Lottsburg, Va., to see an opera — was moved to recite from another musical genre: "Ding dong, the witch is dead!"

For a nation frustrated by three wars, divided by domestic politics and dogged by hard economic times and $4-a-gallon gas, it was time to cheer: "USA! USA!"

The chant started outside the White House — or maybe Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center towers stood before Sept. 11, 2001 — and moved to New York's Times Square and the Boston Common, to college campuses and barrooms and ballparks across the land.

Often, it was raised first and loudest by the young — students, veterans, the newly employed or unemployed.

The chant spread to West Point, N.Y., home of the U.S. Military Academy. Informed by the head cadet of bin Laden's death — "We got him!" — thousands of cadets spilled into the yard and stayed there for a good 90 minutes past curfew. Some threw glow sticks into the air. One jumped on what looked like a pogo stick.

USA! USA! The chant echoed on the campuses of Penn State and Ohio State, and in Dearborn, Mich., a heavily Middle Eastern and Muslim city near Detroit, where a crowd waved American flags. Across town, some drivers honked their horns as they drove along a main street lined with Arab-American restaurants and stores.

In Shanksville, Pa., where a hijacked jet bound for Washington on 9/11 crashed after passengers fought back, visitors gathered at the fenced overlook that is a temporary memorial while a permanent one is built.

"I thought of Sept. 11 and the people lost," said Daniel Pyle, who stopped on his way to work. "I wanted to pay homage to the people lost that day. I think this brings a little bit of closure."

'A good day for America'

There were smaller, spontaneous gatherings across the nation. A few Idahoans made their way to the Capitol building in downtown Boise. South of Seattle, a small group waved flags and cheered on an I-5 overpass known as Freedom Bridge.

"I think we can all agree this is a good day for America," said President Obama, who green-lighted the operation that swooped down on bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He was shot to death after he allegedly resisted. At Ground Zero, a man held up a cardboard sign: "Obama 1, Osama 0."

Mark Lytle, a Bard College historian and co-author of the American history text Nation of Nations, called the raid "a shot in the arm for America's image" and a refreshing contrast to President Carter's failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980.

"Americans can take a certain comfort that we were able to do this," Lytle said, "especially in a period that's been pretty grim for the average citizen."

Contributing: Martha T. Moore in New York; Richard Wolf and Gregg Zoroya in Washington; Matt Manochio and Abbott Koloff, The Daily Record, Morris County, N.J.; Thane Grauel and Ned P. Rauch, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News; John A. Torres and J.D. Gallop, Florida Today; The Associated Press.

Osama bin Laden's burial at sea upsets relatives of Sept. 11 victims

For more than a year after his wife and daughter were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, a pair of little girls’ shoes, size 4, sat at David McCourt’s front door.

His wife, Ruth, and daughter, Juli Ana, were killed when their Los Angeles-bound plane was hijacked and flown into the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center. For months, he would lay crying in a fetal position on his 4-year-old daughter’s bed, feeling that his scars would never heal.

“Losing my wife was like my heart being ripped out; losing my daughter was having my soul ripped out,’’ said McCourt, who moved from Connecticut to Palm Beach after the tragedy.

Monday brought a bit of joy, and more sadness for McCourt, and others who lost loved ones in the attacks, when they learned that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a surprise raid by U. S. military troops.

As thousands danced in the streets celebrating in New York and Washington, many family members and veterans spent Monday reliving the worst memories of their lives.

“I feel elated,” McCourt said. “But I also have a sense of sadness because it’s a reminder of what this monster did and what he took from me.”

Though he is now engaged, McCourt said the family he lost is never far from his mind. Bin Laden’s death brings some solace, but his life is changed forever.

“The biggest thing people don’t realize is when your family is taken away from you, your identity is taken away from you,’’ he said. Today, he finds comfort by working with disabled war veterans.

His fiancé, Mary Bryant, founded a group that trains veterans in wheelchairs to compete in marathons. On Monday, as most Americans were waking up to the news, Bryant was in Miami’s Curtis Park training some of her students, many of whom lost limbs in the war on terrorism in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“While everyone was relieved, there was a feeling that we still realize we have to be on our toes, we got to watch our backs,’’ said Bryant, Founder of Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans.

Later Monday, as she drove a U-Haul crammed with wheelchairs back to Palm Beach, she spoke about the hundreds of veterans she has met who, despite life-changing injuries, never thought twice about serving their country. Many of them would go back, if they could, she said.

“They are just amazing,’’ Bryant said.

One of her students, Luke Murphy of Palm City, lost a leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006. He trained in several al Qaeda missions, and saw some of atrocities terrorists committed in the name of bin Laden in Iraq.

“There were 20 guys we found without heads. These terrorists were driving around blowing up their own people,’’ he said. “ It was all stemming from bin Laden. It’s the same radicalism and same hatred toward America that drives them.”

He added: “As a country we had to sacrifice a lot for that man. And of course I’ll have to pay for it the rest of my life.’’

Janice Saiya Gonzalez of Pembroke Pines found comfort in the news of bin Laden’s death. She lost a cousin on 9/11 at the World Trade Center – and a soldier who was like a son in Afghanistan in 2007.

“I knew we would finally get him, no matter what it took,’’ she said. “I’m glad they finally tracked him down and put a bullet in his head. Now the devil has a roommate.”



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/02/2197860/bin-ladens-death-brings-joy-nightmares.html#ixzz1LFpFRKGE