Daniel J. Summers » Charter Member of the VRWC

Note – This tribute is part of Project 2996, a blogosphere-wide effort to ensure that none of the Americans whose lives were taken on September 11, 2001 are forgotten.  See the entire list at their site, linked in the previous sentence.

It is a crisp late summer morning.  A couple is parting ways at an airport.  While that’s not an altogether uncommon sight, for Neil and Ellen Mariani, it would be the last time they would see one another.  Neil was 59 years old; 4 of those years he had spent serving his country in the United States Air Force, and many more years working for HP Hood Dairy, from where he had retired.  An avid photographer, he was known for his ever-present Minolta camera – he even developed his own film!

His step-daughter was engaged to be married on September 15, 2001, and he had decided to go out to California to attend the wedding.  He made this decision at the last minute, so he and Ellen had different flights; Ellen had a layover in Chicago, while Neil had the cross-country UA 175 flight.  Ellen wrote a letter to her husband after the wedding, and rather than put it in my words, I’ll put in hers.

DEAR NEIL…

I, as your wife, have searched for sane answers to what happened on that beautiful, sunny, warm Tuesday, September 11, 2001. You, Neil, were so tanned and fit, happy to be leaving with me before dawn for Boston’s Logan Airport. You and I were traveling on separate planes to the California wedding of my daughter, Gina, your step-daughter. You decided to go out for the wedding at the very last minute, and to help pay for the ticket, we held garage sales together.

Neil, I will never forget when we said goodbye at Boston Airport. Neil, you as a gentleman were always carrying heavy items for me, and that morning, you carried inside the terminal two large boxes full of toys for our grand-kids that were to be there for the wedding as flower girl and ring bearer.

You kissed me at the curb and said goodbye. Then you kissed me again inside and said “See you, Ellen. I’ll arrive three minutes after your plane lands,” and walked away. But suddenly, you came back, gave me a third kiss and a big hug. It was then I noticed you seemed nervous. I thought it was because you were not used to flying. You then said goodbye for the third time, then left. I looked back to catch a last glance at you, Neil, but you were gone and out of sight.

Neil, you never made it to California for Gina’s wedding that September 15, 2001. I left two hours before you and had a scheduled layover in Chicago. It was there that I found out what had happened to you. Your plane, United Airlines Flight 175, had crashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center. You, my husband, were gone in a ball fire. The September 15th wedding of Gina’s went on in defiance of what had happened on September 11th.

Now as I stood as a new widow of four days, Gina asked me to give her away to be married. I wore two yellow roses, and made a toast in remembrance of you.

Neil, you are the perfect example of the type of American that makes this country great.  Thank you for being the man that you were – America is a poorer place without you here.

This is part 2 (either way you read it) in this year’s “2008 Year in Review – The Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous” series. The bad things are things that either were bad, or will be in the future. All opinions are mine, obviously, and you are welcome to adopt them as your own.

• Election 2008

Where do I begin? There was not much about this election that I liked. The campaign was way too long. The Republicans nominated the wrong guy. The outcome was bad. I’ve already covered Sarah Palin’s treatment in the “Ridiculous” entry. My biggest problem with this election was how it was spun.  It’s safe to say that the majority of Obama voters didn’t know what they were voting for; how could they, when he wouldn’t get any specifics?  His campaign of “hope” (who doesn’t want to have hope?) and “change” (which would have happened either way) struck me as a focus-group phrase that got way out of control.

Then you have the last few months of the campaign itself.  First, there was a hurricane at the same time as the Republican convention, with people saying “How can they have a convention at a time like this?”  Next came the “crisis” that had been brewing for years in the sub-prime mortgage market.  McCain foolishly decided to suspend his campaign to deal with it, which gave Obama the chance to make the speech where he said “A president has to deal with more than one thing at a time” (which is very, very true).  It seemed the Republicans were “darned if they did, darned if they didn’t” during this cycle!  Personally, I thought that both things should have continued on schedule.

Then, there was “Joe the Plumber,” roundly ridiculed for asking a question that elicited the “spread the wealth around” response from Obama.  All of a sudden, we have all these reports popping up.  “His name isn’t even Joe!” (as if they’ve never heard of someone who goes by their middle name)  “He doesn’t even make enough money to have to pay more!” (which didn’t matter – he one day wanted to make that much money)  “He’s not even a licensed plubmer!” (but was working towards that – all part of his plan to better his life)  In the end, a government worker was dismissed from her job for digging up dirt on Joe using government resources.  (Speaking of government, an organization called ACORN submitted thousands of voter registrations, hundreds of which were found to be fraudulent.  However, the governments continued to accept these registrations from them, and courts ruled that they could be accepted.)

Regarding the actual outcome, I’d describe myself as skeptically optimistic.  Obama’s selections for his cabinet haven’t been quite what I would like, but I didn’t really expect that they would be; however, they’re not nearly as left-leaning as he could have made them.  He does seem to be actually trying to govern towards the left side of the middle.  I can’t help but think that maybe he outsmarted everyone in the Chicago political machine, where there’s as much corruption as there is snow off the Great Lakes.  Could it be that he joined their machine to use it to get to the top, only to jettison it once he got there?  We’ll see.

• RIP, Tim Russert and Tony Snow

People die – that’s part of life.  However, this year saw the somewhat-unexpected deaths of both Tim Russert, long-time anchor of Meet the Press, and Tony Snow, Fox News anchor and former White House spokesman.  Both these men had a gift for journalism, and were not afraid to ask balanced questions of their interview subjects.  I remember Tim Russert’s expert analysis in both the 2000 and 2004 election seasons, opening the 2000 election coverage saying “Florida, Florida, Florida” and the 2004 coverage with “Ohio, Ohio, Ohio” – both the eventual states that decided the election.  And, I remember Tony Snow as the first anchor of Fox News Sunday, as Fox decided to get into the Sunday morning political show alongside Meet the Press on NBC and This Week on ABC.  (Am I old if I remember the latter as This Week with David Brinkley?)  Tony also did an excellent job as spokesman during Bush’s second term, deftly handling the questions he was asked, and clearly expressing the intents and desires of the administration.  (If only  GWB would communicate that clearly…)

• Terrorism Reminds Us that It Isn’t Gone Yet

This was a pretty quiet year on the terrorism front – Iraq is going well, the surge seems to have stamped out the final pockets of resistance, and rival factions are now participating in the democratic process.  Afghanistan has been hit-or-miss, with a bit of instability still there as this year draws to a close.  However, in late November, terrorists struck in Bombay, India, killing over 100 people, citizens of several different nations.  This was a stark reminder that the quiet that we have experienced did not happen by chance, and that we need to keep our nose to the grindstone to protect our nation.

• Wings of Wind Crash

We’ve enjoyed the International Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque the past two years.  On the final Friday this year, the balloon Wings of Wind crashed into some power lines, catching fire.  Both pilots jumped from the balloon, fearing that the fuel tanks would explode.  One survived, one did not.  It was the second year in a row that there has been a fatality at the Fiesta, but this one touched our family somewhat closely, as Michelle and Jordan had spent Thursday evening set up right by that balloon, and talking with its’ pilots and crew.  Then, to add insult to injury, a truck belonging to the balloon crew was stolen before they left town, causing them to lose their pictures of that week.  (I hope that whoever stole that truck gets some special attention from God over the next year.)  Keep the family of Stephen Lachendro, the pilot who perished, and Keith Sproul, the primary pilot and the pilot who survived, in your prayers.

So, there are some of the things that I thought were bad about this past year.  What did you think was bad?

I saw this in a parking lot yesterday, accompanied by the Marine Corps symbol…

GIVE WAR A CHANCE!

Heh – maybe we could have a rally. Instead of Woodstock, New York, we’ll gather in Woodstock, Georgia. We could have some long-haired folk singer start singing “What the world… needs now… is war… this war… Our freedom is the thing… that al-Qaeda’s dyin’ for…” (my apologies to Jackie DeShannon)

Another busy time, another installment of “Plagiarism Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery”. See, when we re-blog here, we’re honest and up-front.

First up is an article about the cost of illegal immigration for Los Angeles County for one month, from radio talk show host and author Neal Boortz. The numbers are staggering.

Next up, a link to a pundit I never thought I’d link to, except as a set up to refute. However, Susan Estrich and I agree on this issue, which she details in “A Weak Moment for Women in Banning Larry Summers“. (I don’t agree that what he originally said was wrong – but the rest of it is spot-on.)

Via Morgan Freeberg, we have reports that “A Quiet Triumph May Be Brewing“. Could it be that we’ve come up with a way to get most remaining al-Qaeda in the same place, then send them to their 72 virgins (or raisins, depending on the translation)?

And finally, we wrap up with some humor. Rachel Lucas learned to make thought and speech bubbles in PhotoShop, and produced a masterpiece she calls “Three Men and a Hillary“. (Language warning in effect for the comments on that post…)

Saw this today…

EITHER get behind our troops, or get in FRONT of them.

Just awesome!

This past month has been very busy, as I’ve been wrapping up some college classes. So, with little time to write things myself, here are some links to some articles I’ve enjoyed over the past week.

When a House vote is over, it’s over, right? In House Democrats Fail Democracy 101, Tom DeLay writes that the “most incompetent speaker in American history” needs to revisit House rules.

Could it be that illegal employment enforcement is just around the corner? In Crackdown on “Questionable” Social Security Numbers, LaShawn Barber writes that many employers are firing employees with SSNs that have been flagged as suspicious.

Good news in Iraq is bad news for Democrats – that’s what Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) seems to think anyway. What can you say about a party that has put itself on the opposite side of American victory?

And finally, just for fun – In Defense of Drunk Astronauts.

“This guy” is Signal94, a retired peace officer. His latest post (as of this writing) is entitled “One More Time” – here’s a teaser…

Last night I watched a report on Headline Line News regarding the basement democrats trying to keep their presidential aspirations alive (they are in the basement as far as the front runners are concerned). The station played part of a Chris Dodd ad where he states that we are involved in an Iraqi civil war … and I nearly threw my shoe through the TV set.

Senator Dodd, obviously you haven’t been paying attention for the last twenty-seven years.

He also has an article posted on Friday entitled “Do You Know?“, filled with interesting statistics…

Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?

Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 new schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq?

Signal94 is now listed under “Daily Reads” in the sidebar.