Ground Zero: An Empty Pit That Visitors' Grief Cannot Fill

By Robin Givhan

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, September 9, 2002; Page A19 NEW YORK --

For months, it seemed that anger and frustration were embedded in the mangled steel and smoldering debris. The mountain of wreckage moaned in the night... The sounds of demolition echoed like groans of agony.

Now there is emptiness. The only remnant of the twin towers is the hole where they once stood. And the hole is silent.

"Many a time I watch people and it's so disheartening," he said. "I saw a lady come to look at the site. She put her hand on her chest and just wept."

For each person, the tears are personal and their meanings vary. Some cry out of loss; others weep from despair, anger or bewilderment. Some can't even explain what brought the tears. But the emotions well up and spill over.

The city has cleaned up the surrounding streets, building wood-plank walkways and covering them with sheets of corrugated metal. But the trade center grounds are surrounded by fencing draped in a green scrim, and so from most angles, all that passersby can hope to see are the blurry movements of the remaining workers amid their machinery along the rim of the pit.

Once the soaring towers drew the eyes upward, and it was common to find tourists struggling to capture 110 stories in a single photo frame. Now, everyone's gaze has turned downward and visitors try mightily to capture the depth of nothingness on 35mm film.

Sometimes the visitors want to be in the photograph. Invariably, as they stand in front of the site, they grab hold of the fence with one hand, not because they need steadying but because what else can one do when posing for a picture in front of a place that no longer exists?

With the wreckage cleared, the hole waits to be filled. Now, before there is a memorial, a transportation platform, office space or anything else, it is an empty reservoir into which emotions

The Memorial to Life

Burton A. Gellman

On the day of my 70th birthday, I stood at Ground Zero, tears running down my face. The mountain of destruction rose ten stories high...and hundreds of people stood in disbelief. "How could this happen," was what I heard over and over. I felt the lingering anguish of the spirits of those who perished.

For the first time I saw the real face of war! ... What we see on TV or in the movies cannot convey the heartbreak and agony of the reality of what happened that fateful day.

But as I walked around the World Trade Center and looked across the Hudson, I saw the Statue of Liberty. She stood with torch held high, as when my father arrived as a young man in 1898, welcoming him to a land of freedom and opportunity. At that moment, I realized that Osama Bin Laden missed his target. He must have believed that our greatness as a nation stemmed from our wealth and military power. He was wrong. Our greatness comes from our freedom, guaranteed by our Constitution, and symbolized by the Statue of Liberty. Liberty we must protect and share with the world.

It was a defining moment in my life. Nothing has been the same since.

I realized at Ground Zero, that for my children, grandchildren, and for the children of the world, a new symbol and initiative must be created to teach the people of the world what we as Americans treasure the most; our Freedom and the peace that it brings us.

I have dedicated myself to creating a memorial at Ground Zero; one built with the support of every American citizen and shared by us all.

We can show the world by symbol and deed that peace is our goal, education is the way, and that we are truly united in our desire to end terrorism.