Lest we forget...

With all the talk about Osama bin Laden and the advice on how we should or should not react to his death, I think it's a good time to reflect upon his legacy.


These photographs come courtesy of Daniel Ryan who in 2001 was a firefighter with the Niles, Il. Fire Department. Along with several of his colleagues from all over the country, Dan traveled to Ground Zero in New York City at his own expense, to assist with the unimaginable task of recovering the remains of the people who died there on September 11, 2001.


On September 11, 2001, 2,742 innocent lives were taken at the World Trade Center, 184 were lost at the Pentagon, and 41 were lost on the plane that was taken over by the passengers and crashed in Shanksville, PA.


This of course does not include all the innocent lives that were lost in al-Qaeda attacks at the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the attack on the USS Cole, the bombings of the transportation systems of Moscow, Madrid and London, attacks against Christians in the Philippines and against Muslims in Iran and Indonesia. The list goes on and on.

With all the attention in the last few weeks devoted to bin Laden, I think it's high time we forget about him and remember the people he murdered.

Thank you Dan for your photographs and for your service.