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SUNY Plattsburgh Commemorates Those Fallen In 9-11 Attacks

SUNY Plattsburgh held its annual 9-11 commemoration today to remember the students from the campus lost when the Twin Towers collapsed, and the need to support first responders as health repercussions surface years later.
The Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society coordinates the annual commemoration with the college’s Gospel Choir.

Omicron Delta Kappa President Amanda Li Furnari was 4 years old and in preschool in 2001.  “I was the last person to be picked up by my dad and I will never forget how tight he hugged me that day, tighter than he had ever before. There are many people connected to the greater SUNY Plattsburgh family that suffered. In particular we have dedicated this memorial to two Plattsburgh State alumni who perished in the collapse of the World Trade Centers. They were Robert Sutcliffe a 1984 graduate and William Erwin a 1992 graduate. We would also like to officially recognize Brian Scott Falb who was a 9/11 first responder who died of cancer in March of 2017. Brian was a New York State Trooper and graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh.”

 “Fred Rogers once said: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news my mother would say to me look for the helpers.” Student Association President Jess Falace was in kindergarden.  “There were 2,977 victims killed in the September 11th attacks. 412 were emergency workers: those helpers that I just mentioned. 343 firefighters of the New York City Fire Department, 37 police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, 23 police officers of the New York City Police Department, eight emergency medical technicians and one patrolman from the New York fire patrol. These helpers gave their lives so that they could save others and so that we could have our lives today.”

Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman was an undergraduate student at SUNY Plattsburgh during 9-11.   “All of us couldn’t get a hold of family members. It was a very very emotional time. It would take something very significant to prevent me from being here on campus. It where I experienced the events that occurred and there’s something very somber but also very spiritual by being back with this community in reflection.”

The Plattsburgh State Art Museum is displaying the sculpture “Tempered By Memory” by Noah Savett, which contains recovered steel from the World Trade Center.

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