A few weeks ago I was watching one of the morning news channels, and they did a story on a Memorial at Harbor View Park, located in Bayonne, New Jersey. The park is located right across the harbor from the Statue of Liberty. The monument located there is a gift from the Russian people. It was specifically located there to honor the victims of 9/11 and the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
Last week, we traveled to New Jersey to visit my wife’s mother who is in the hospital. While there, we visited the memorial which is called “ To the Struggle Against World Terrorism”. Our family in New Jersey had not seen any news coverage about this Memorial, so it was a great visit for all of us to see together. While visiting, we met people from all over the country coming to see this wonderful gift to our people.
It was created by Russian artist, Zurab Tsereteli, who was watching his TV when he saw the attack on the Twin Towers, and as the towers collapsed, he was brought to tears.
On his way to work, Zurab passed by the American Embassy in Russia and saw a mass of people mourning and crying. At that moment he decided to use the image of a teardrop in the memorial. The memorial is made of steel sheathed in bronze and stands 100 feet high and weighs 175 tons. Its center contains a jagged gash, in the cut hangs a 40-foot stainless steel teardrop. Etched in the granite on an eleven-sided base are the names of the victims of both the 9/11 and 1993 attack. By day or nighttime when it is lit, the Memorial is clearly visible from lower Manhattan, the Staten Island Ferry, ships passing through New York Harbor and airplanes approaching Newark Airport.
If you are visiting in NYC or New Jersey, please take time to visit the Memorial. It is something special to see. Multitudes of our American citizens migrated from Russia, just like from all over the world. In this time when you hear mostly negative reports about Russian hackers or other negative news about Russia, it is refreshing to know that there are many good people in Russia who care about the American people.
Lyman Smith, West Point
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