This evening my thoughts are with all those affected by the wildfires that are currently ravaging Southern California.

Among the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the fires there is at least one close friend of Project 2,996.

Tom Dilatush, of JamulBlog, was instrumental in the success we had in 2006. He stepped up and wrote the sign-up application when I was swamped with handling all the registrations manually.

Yesterday, Tom, his wife and his dogs were forced to leave their home in Jamul (a little North of San Diego). They had plenty of time to pack some belongings, and in my last emails with him he said they were taking the situation seriously, so I’m less concerned for their safety than I am for their home and their belongings.

Please join me in keeping Tom, and everyone in SoCal in your thoughts and prayers.

It was 2,191 days ago that 2,996 people were taken.

They were taken from their family. They were taken from their friends. And although we didn’t yet know them, they were taken from us, as well.

I know in those bleak days after 9/11 I was among the millions who pledged that I would never forget. And this is one of the ways I plan to keep that promise.

Join with me, by remembering one of the 2,996, and posting the link to your tribute in the comment section.

Thank You,

Dale Challener Roe

Click here to see a list of last year’s tributes

Just one day until the sixth anniversary of the tragedy of September 11.

Please don’t forget the victims. Take just a few minutes today to choose a victim, research and learn a bit about them, and post a tribute on your own blog tomorrow. You’ll be able to leave your links on this site on September 11.

And, please, don’t forget to spread the word.

Project 2,996 has a new look.

I’ve “completed” the redesign of the Project 2,996 website, Blog, and Forum. I put that in quotes because I’m sure there will be some bugs, revisions or additions.

I hope you all like the new look, and I’d like to hear what you think.

As July swelters on, I have been receiving more and more emails asking if I’m planning on running Project 2,996 this year.

Project 2,996 WILL take place this year, but it will be a scaled back version of last year’s event.

Why?
Well, I’d rather not get into details, but the last 10 months have not been very kind. Everyone’s OK, but even mild to moderate health problems really drain away free time and energy. And for a good portion of the last year I worked two jobs. On top of that, moving the kids from LA to Raleigh has resulted in a slew of new, safe activities for the kids, so my chauffeur duties have increased dramatically.

To everyone who participated last year, I am sorry for this. However, I won’t let Project 2,996 fade out. Keep reading and you’ll see the plans for the future.

What about 2007?
Here’s what’s going to happen for this year. I’ve posted a list of all 2,996 Victims. This year there is no signing up.

1a. Just go to the page and pick a name.

…or…

1b. Take a look at the top of my sidebar and take the name in the “One of the Fallen” box as your assigned name. This box will show a new name each time the page is loaded.

…or…

1c. Choose the same name you had last year. Just remember, you should look for new information and write a new post. These people deserve at least that much from us.

2. Then research that name and post a tribute to your blog on 9/11/2007.

3. A few days before 9/11/2007 I’ll put a page up that will allow everyone to leave links to their tributes.

4. In the meantime you can join the Project 2,996 Forum, for research help, or just to talk with others about Project 2,996.

What about 2008 and on?
I have a web template that I like, so in the near future I’ll be putting up a new page and I’ll be redesigning the blog to fit the look of the new site. Then I’ll be researching (or begging everyone I know for help) in writing a script, or database, or something to automate sign-ups (which we had last year), but also allow people to go back and put their own links onto the master list.

I’ll be starting this redesign soon, probably before this year is over, so unless I run into a huge hurdle with the script it should be done in plenty of time to announce and promote the 2008

So for now, pick a name, start your research and spread the word.

Note: The 2,996 blog has moved. You are reading this at the new 2,996 blog (http://project2996.com/blog). There will be no more posts on the original 2,996 blog.

Shock and Awe. That’s a pretty good summary of my feelings about 2,996.

Shock
I was(am) flabbergasted at the attention, nay the frenzy, that 2,996 generated on 9/11. Here’s a few snapshots into what happened:

• My webhosting account was “temprarly suspended” (sic) at about 10:45 AM EDT on 9/11 for excessive MYSQL queries—not bandwidth. Repeated online chats with my host’s technical disservice, resulted in the following chain of events in a repeating pattern: unsuspend the account, demand I stop putting a load on their servers, ignore my requests to make the changes from their end, resuspend the account. I was finally able to convince them to change a directory name directly at the server and then unsuspend the account. This resulted is an almost exact replay of the above events, with the new problem being http access requests. At about noon on 9/11 the 2,996 blog was getting an average of 200 requests every minute.
• For a while I tried to keep up with all of the 2,996ers who jumped right in and posted mirror lists from Google’s cache, but with trying to get the site back up I lost track.
• On 9/11, the 2,996 site was active between 12:00 AM EDT and about 10:45 AM EDT (and maybe another hour total throughout the day). During this period I burned through 14.5 GB of bandwidth and received more than 400,000 hits.
• Some helpful emailers clued me into some mentions of 2,996 from Media sources. An article from Wired Online included a link to 2,996, and a short while I was named and quoted in an AFP article on Yahoo News (quite a little thrill, let me tell you).
• An online tech article (which I did not see, so this is heresay) mentioned 2,996 as a possible cause of extreme lag on blogger, myspace, and aol journals.

Because of all of this, AND due to the extraordinary generosity of some 2,996ers, 2,996 will be moving to a new server and a new permanent domain. The events of the last few days have convinced me that there is a place, and maybe even a need, for 2,996 to become a lasting event.

Awe
I must apologize to all those who participated in 2,996. Until about a week before 9/11 I had pretty good control over things. But several factors conspired to turn order into chaos. But perhaps the two most contributing factors were:

1. I greatly underestimated the breadth of 2,996. I really thought that it would primarily involve those people who chose to participate in 2,996. Using the hits to the 2,996 participants list I think it’s safe to say that the group of tributes generated millions, if not tens of millions, of hits.
2. Because of #1, I mistakenly thought I could take care of things myself. And perhaps had the website not gone down, it would have been closer to happening that way.

However, I’m glad things didn’t go as planned. The frenzy that came of simply trying to keep the list online showed me something that I hadn’t realized. There were large numbers of 2,996ers who wanted to help out…not just to write a tribute.

In the days before 9/11 I had a critical computer crash, and a rather taxing strain of the flu. On 9/11, I was largely occupied with trying to stay online, and mollifying a webhost who spoke little English. And the last 2 days have been overcome with crippling headaches. And when I came to, I realized there were dozens of people who jumped in and did what they could to help.

I discovered a community.

My apology is for getting in the way of that happening sooner. My original conception was of one frenetic day of blogging to help us remember something I certainly had forgotten. But that concept kept me from seeing the larger, and more beautiful, picture.

Today, there is a solemn five year old child watching all of the activities for remembering September 11, 2001. He was three weeks old when his father, John Wright Jr was at work in the World Trade Center that Tuesday morning.

I am not sure he understands all of what happened, nor do any of us. But more important than understanding what happened five years ago today, is remembering who his father was.

My searches for Internet information did not help me. I did find the phone numbers of family members, but I made the choice not to bother them. I decided instead to look in my own heart as a parent and my memories of Long Island to see the real John Wright.

This was a man who traveled everyday from southern Long Island to downtown Manhattan. He most likely took the LIRR, the commuter railroad. I can imagine the friends he made on the train every day. He lived out of the city and in the town where he grew up. He lived near his parents. Even though he left the area for college, he came back to the place he loved.

I can imagine that John played with his older children often. He was a caring person. He called his wife, Martha, after the first plane hit to tell her that he was ok. While no one could fathom the impossible chain of event after that call, I am sure his wife knew just how much he cared from that call.

I wish I knew more about John. The formal statistics are easy. He lived in Rockville Centre, NY, had three children, a wife, a career as a managing director, at Sandler O’Neill & Partners. But to learn more about HIM, is hard.

A small tribute was posted here . This give us a glimpse of the man. I wish I could give you more. Please take the time today to stop and think about John Wright and his family. And the 2995 other people who never saw September 11, 2001 end.

My memories of 9-11-01 are crystal clear. There was so much happening, and yet it all seemed like slow motion. I was watching the morning news when they showed the fire from the first plane that hit the Tower. I saw the second plane hit, and from that point on, I was frozen – I couldn’t move or do anything but watch. My sister works across the Potomac from the Pentagon. She called me to let me know she could see the smoke after the third plane hit, and that her company was closing and she was headed home to Virginia. I cried – both for the innocent souls that were dying, and also the fear of the unknown. I confess to being a “weepy-eyed patriot”. I cannot hear, or sing, the National Anthem or American the Beautiful without crying. And parades with a lot of big bands and flags flying give me goosebumps! But, seeing armed guards on the top of the White House and not knowing where the fourth plane was headed made me very, very angry. How dare the y do this to my country!

The incredible sadness set in during the days that followed. All the souls that left us that day left a gaping hole in our hearts, even larger than the one left by the fallen buildings and the plane that hit the ground. Take a moment on this Day of Remembrance to share in remembering the life of one of those special people.

Tribute to Christopher Michael Duffy

Christopher Duffy was only 23 years old on September 11, 2001. He had only begun to live. He was the second oldest of five children. He graduated from Fordham Preparatory School, where he was the captain of the Lacrosse team; and Villanova University with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2000. He had just moved into his own place on 81^st Street in Manhattan in early September and was working as an assistant equities trader on the 89^th Floor of Tower 2. (9-11 Heroes)

The New York Times said:

Christopher was determined. At 160 pounds, he was the fullback on his high school football team. He was captain of his lacrosse team and spent a good part of his time on the field knocking other players down.

His sister Kara said her brother was a smart dresser, loving to shop at stores like Hugo Boss. Still, outside the office he was often seen in flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt. His 12 closest friends, who were honorary pallbearers at his memorial service, wore suits — and flip-flops.

I didn’t know Chris, but I wish I could have known him. He touched many people in his short life and left behind friends and a family who cherish his memory. As one of his friends said, “The world is a little sadder without Chris in it - Only God knows how far Chris would have gone - his potential and love of life were limitless.”

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139

I don’t know much about Hamidou, except that he hailed from New York City and was 37 years old when he was at the WTC five years ago today. He no doubt had family and friends who still think about him. I know of two for sure who continue to. The only other thing I know about Hamidou is that he is not forgotten. Not by his friends and family, and not by me. Rest in peace, Hamidou.

Ed Note: being the tech idiot that I am, I have my fingers crossed that this posts without incident.

It’s suddenly five years later and I have yet to grasp the enormity of what 9/11 was, or what kind of waves of change it would (and continues to) send through our society. Well, I take that back. There was the inevitability of the movies that would be made and TV shows aired with likenesses of 9/11 events. I haven’t seen the movies, videos or conspiracy film based on the incident. I will probably never watch them. They are Hollywood sweet or paranoid anti-American, and I have no stomach for either.

How did I deal? I left behind the DC area that Wednesday morning with nothing but my dog and the American flag draped across my back seat. I cocooned at home. I avoided the reporters in my Small Town South. I still don’t know who called them. But my money is on my mother. She delighted in her proximity. I was almost killed!! My 15 minutes there were also hers. I spent the rest of the week riveted to the fires burning in the Pentagon, and not acknowledging the rest of the world.

My client called to check on me. “I’m ok. Intact. Yes sir. See you Monday.”

When I came back, the building smelled funny. Ashy. The formerly pistol-armed security force had been replaced with soldiers from the surrounding bases, but now carrying automatic rifles. The building smelled… funny. It was ironic, this broken building that still operated. The shattered windows and scorch marks could be seen from the courtyard, but most parts of the building could still be navigated.

Alan Jackson came and sang. The New York Yankees visited. I got photographed with Andy Petitte. It was a nice distraction for a while. Band-aid it all up… get back to work. It was brave and at the same time cold.

What I strikes me about this is how we all mourn differently. I retreated. My co-worker ranted at my lack of emotion and why didn’t I see what she was going through?? I was sent a house plant and burst into tears. A house plant? Tears? I don’t dig deeper into the “Why didn’t I stay and help?” and the survivor’s guilt anymore. Too many scenarios, too little time, no way to change the past. You’ve got to move on with the living part of things.

So would it be fair to say that I have changed along with my world? Yeah. Definitely. I’m angry at the terrorists. At those who say we deserved it; no one “deserves” to have nearly 3,000 innocents extinguished. Frustrated with politicals for taking advantage. For not being cohesive. At the short-sighted impatience of my country men and women. And cynical, but only a little more than I was before.� Unfortunately, change is part of life.

I wish this could be a better post.� Much like the organization of my thoughts on this topic, the writing is tumultous. But I don’t want pity.

I want my innocence.