United We Stand

Terrorist attacks that hit the U.S. harder than any in our nation’s history, has spurred the president to call for the capture of terrorism suspect, Osama bin Laden “dead or alive.”

Bin Laden denied any connection to the four hijacked airplanes — two of which destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, one that struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the last plane that crashed into Pennsylvania countryside after passengers apparently tried to recapture the plane from the hijackers.

Abigayle Fuller looks up at her grandmother, Lori Edes, during the candlelight vigil held for victims of Tuesday's attack on America. The Friday vigil was part of president Bush's proclaimed Day of Prayer and Rememberance.

The White House is working with the Palestine government to arrange the surrender of Bin Laden.

Local

connections

The distance between Williams and the East Coast is more than 2,000 miles. That does not mean the two are not connected.

Cory Wong, acting forest supervisor for the Kaibab National Forest, said the distance seemed even greater last week.

That’s because Wong’s sister, China Blue, lives in New York.

“We weren’t positive if she was there,” Wong said. “That’s what threw us into a frenzy.”

China Blue’s office was located on the 86th floor of the first tower.

“There were pro-blems with com-munications,” Wong said.

He said it was his wife, Pam, who returned home early on Tuesday to start calling around to find out infor-mation.

Finally a call went through to China Blue’s boy-friend.

“We found out she was six blocks away,” Wong said. “My sister’s from California and thought it was an earthquake and stood in the doorway.

“She’s pretty shaken up. She had to walk through the war zone to get home.”

Wong was lucky.

Another Williams resident was not so lucky and fears he may have lost a friend.

“I received word earlier that a friend of mine, Joe, from New York is missing,” said Frank Manson, chief of the Williams Police Department. “He’s the ninth friend I’ve lost in the line of duty.”

The Wednesday (Sept. 12) meeting for the Kiwanis Club of Williams, where Manson spoke, started out with a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorists attacks on points in the East.

Elsie Faison, president of Kiwanis, said the terrorism attacks of last week are unlike any in America’s history.

“I was around when Pearl Harbor was bombed and there was a country we could blame,” she said.

Faison said a difficult part of watching the coverage on TV was seeing some foreign coun-tries celebrating.

“The hard part was watching the people dancing in the streets,” she said. “I just wanted to get in there and shake them.”

Reports are still uncertain to the total number of people lost but estimates show more than 5,000 are still missing and more than 4,000 are injured.

Around town a number of residents have adorned their homes with flags. The City of Williams and the American Legion Cordova Post No. 13 have placed 55 flags around town to show the town’s patriotism.

On Friday, more than 150 locals gathered at the City of Williams/Forest Service visitor center for a candlelight vigil.

“This tragedy left us all wondering how we’re going to cope,” said Donna Cochran, Main Street director. “We gather together tonight to honor the victims of Tuesday’s events.”

There are a number of places in town where people can donate to help out the victims of the attack on America.

The Parent Teacher Organ-ization has placed penny jars in classroom at the Williams Elementary/ Middle School and at businesses around town to collect funds. The drive will run through the end of September and then the money will be presented to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund at an assembly at school. During Saturday night’s Rascal Flatts concert the Williams- Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors col-lected tips selling beverages and said they are giving the money to the PTOs’ drive.

McDonald’s in getting into the act by donating all of it’s Ronald McDonald House funds collected at drive thru windows and containers at the counter through Oct. 12 to the Red Cross.

The Holiday Inn has a box in it’s lobby for donations and the Williams-Grand Canyon News is in the process of setting up a collection.

The National Bank of Arizona has also established a relief fund for the families of victims.

On Monday, Indian hotel and business owners in Williams donated more than $1,000 to the relief fund. They presented the money to the chamber executive director, John Sullivan, who said the chamber will be a drop off point for anyone who wants to donate.

Anyone interested in making contributions on-line have a number of relief agencies to choose from: www.redcross.com (make a donation on-line or find the nearest blood donation center), salvationarmy.com (the specific use option at the Salvation Army’s donation page allows targeting donations towards specific areas), www.helping.org (this site offers a list of organizations providing aid), and www.uwnyc.com/epledge/sept11.cfm (The United Way of New York City website states 100 percent of donations will go towards supporting the victims of last week’s tragedy and their families.)