The Mets host the Yankees on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this Saturday.
Amongst the remembrance ceremony to be held on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York Mets will wear the caps of first responder organizations for their game on Saturday night against the Yankees at Citi Field.
“Caps from the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction will all be represented to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice,” a statement from the Mets read.
The Mets have worn first-responder caps on several occasions over the last 20 years — an idea that began when former first baseman Todd Zeile was given the FDNY hat of a first responder that was killed during the attacks when he visited Ground Zero just days after the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center fell.
“That became a tiny little symbolic gesture that this team was able to put forward for our appreciation of what those guys were doing while we were getting ready to play baseball again,” Zeile told amNewYork Metro last week.
Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine and former Yankees manager Joe Torre will participate in a ceremonial first pitch while a number of former Mets players will be in attendance. Most notably, Mike Piazza — the Mets Hall of Famer who hit the go-ahead home run in the first game back in New York after the attacks on Sept. 21 — will be at Citi Field.
Along with first responders, a number of organizations and contributors will also be represented on the field during pregame ceremonies, which will begin at 7 p.m. ET. That includes Tuesday’s Children, The Visionary Network from the 9/11 Museum, Answer the Call, New York Police and Fire Widows’ & Children Benefit Fund, which was created by Mets legend Rusty Staub, The Feel Good Foundation, and Mets employees who lost loved ones on 9/11 and worked at Shea Stadium to help the relief effort 20 years ago.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 19:16:522021-10-29 19:18:25Mets, Yankees to wear first responder caps for 9/11 remembrance game vs. Yankees
As the league kicks off its 102nd season this week, the NFL family will join together to recognize the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and honor those who have lost and sacrificed their lives over the last two decades.
Plans announced include a continued commitment to Tuesday’s Children, which works to ensure that families who have suffered losses due to the events of 9/11, post-9/11 military service or other acts of mass violence and terrorism always have a comforting place to turn to for support and community.
Tuesday’s Children helped the NFL to identify families to honor, including the Cayne family, who will be recognized before the NFL’s Kickoff game in Tampa Bay on Thursday, Sept. 9 in stadium through an announcement and on-air on NBC. The Cayne family, who currently reside in Florida, lost their father on 9/11.
The NFL will provide unifying moments nationwide on air and in all stadiums just prior to the start of the nine 1 p.m. ET NFL games on Sunday, Sept. 12.
Just prior to the start of those games, an NFL Media produced tribute video will be simulcast nationwide across CBS and FOX pregame shows to highlight what the days after 9/11 meant to America. The piece, which ties in the challenges of the past two years and how Americans overcome hardships together, is narrated by award-winning actor and former FDNY firefighter Steve Buscemi.
Immediately following the tribute video, a performance of the National Anthem from the National September 11 Memorial and Museum will be performed by music therapist Juliette Candela, who was also selected by Tuesday’s Children. Candela’s father, John, lost his life on 9/11 in the World Trade Center. Candela’s performance will honor her father and all others who lost their lives on that day.
Clubs will remember 9/11 on-field during Week 1 games in the following ways:
• Players will each wear a specially designed 9/11 ribbon helmet decal.
• 9/11 lapel pins will be worn on sidelines by coaches and team personnel. Broadcast announcers, media members and club and league employees also will be provided the pins.
• Special NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority Police Department hats will be worn in partnership with NYC & Co. and New Era at the Denver Broncos at New York Giants and New York Jets at Carolina Panthers games to commemorate the first responders who risked and lost their lives in the aftermath of 9/11.
Select clubs will also invite a Tuesday’s Children family to their home game in Week 1 and participate alongside the league in 9/11 Day of service, which is a day of volunteering to rekindle the extraordinary spirit of togetherness and compassion that arose in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
Additionally, on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET, NFL Network will air an hour-long special hosted by Melissa Stark, NFL360 Remembering 9/11. The show will include features on late NFL head coach Jim Fassel and how he led the New York Giants during the 2001 season; Rich Eisen remembering 9/11; an interview with Al Michaels and Stark discussing the 2001 MNF season; and features on New York Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh and the FDNY vs. NYPD 9/11 tribute football game. The piece on both Saleh and the FDNY vs. NYPD 9/11 tribute game will premiere on a 9/11-themed episode of NFL Films Presents on Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
The NFL also has partnered with America250 on the America250 Awards, a multi-year program that honors Americans who exemplify the intangible qualities of the American spirit. The public is invited to nominate by Oct. 11 someone whose heroic actions to help others were inspired by 9/11. Three winners will receive two round-trip tickets and accommodations to a Thanksgiving Day NFL game this year, where they will be recognized on the field.
ABOUT TUESDAY’S CHILDREN: Tuesday’s Children provides a lifetime of healing for families who have been forever changed by terrorism, military conflict or mass violence. Through a time-tested, long-term approach, Tuesday’s Children programming serves and supports our nation’s Military Families of the Fallen; builds resilience and common bonds in communities worldwide recovering from tragedies; and keeps the promise to support all those impacted by Tuesday, September 11th. For more information, please visit www.tuesdayschildren.org.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 19:13:562021-10-29 19:15:12NFL to recognize 20th anniversary of September 11 during kickoff weekend
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —Yesterday, Smithfield® and the Gene Haas Foundation had the honor of recognizing Tuesday’s Children – an organization formed in the wake of 9/11 that provides a lifetime of healing for families who have been affected by terrorism, military conflict or mass violence – with a $50,000 donation at Stewart-Haas Racing’s headquarters in Kannapolis, N.C. In addition to the donation, race car driver Aric Almirola unveiled the special-edition No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang that he will pilot in the Sept. 11 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. The Ford Mustang car will feature a commemorative 9/11 paint scheme and the Tuesday’s Children logo to honor those whose lives were forever changed by the tragedy and further spotlight the non-profit’s mission.
Since Tuesday’s Children was founded nearly two decades ago, it has served more than 42,000 individuals. The organization’s goal is to ensure that families who have suffered losses due to the events of 9/11, post-9/11 military service, or other acts of mass violence and terrorism always have a comforting place to turn to for support and community. This $50,000 donation will help provide individuals and families with counseling and support, youth mentorship and career guidance, healing through service and peacebuilding, and much more.
“Tuesday’s Children is excited and honored to partner with Smithfield and the Gene Haas Foundation for the 20th anniversary of 9/11,” said Lisa Oosterom, Chief Financial Officer at Tuesday’s Children. “We are truly grateful for their support of our work so that we can continue to deliver our programs and services to the families and children that lost loved ones on Tuesday, Sept. 11, the 9/11 responders and to our nation’s Gold Star Families. We are also honored and grateful that the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang will feature the Tuesday’s Children logo during Saturday night’s race. We can’t wait to see it on the track!”
“With Saturday’s race in Richmond taking place on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, we wanted to pay tribute to those who were affected by the heinous acts of 9/11,” said Aric Almirola, driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. “Tuesday’s Children has done an incredible job serving as a strong support system for so many individuals and families throughout the last two decades, and I am privileged to be a part of this moment to spotlight their organization through this donation and paint scheme.”
“We couldn’t be more honored to share this donation with Tuesday’s Children and give the organization the recognition it deserves for its tireless work in supporting those impacted by 9/11,” said Chris Braselton, brand manager at Smithfield Foods. “We’re grateful for Tuesday’s Children and support their mission to continue lifting up and caring for the people whose lives were forever changed 20 years ago. Just like the No. 10 Ford Mustang says, ‘We Will Never Forget.'”
Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 63,000 team members are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly.®” and have made us one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including our industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30 percent across our entire U.S. value chain by 2030. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our communities. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield®, Eckrich® and Nathan’s Famous®, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
About Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 90 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on YouTube.
About Tuesday’s Children
Tuesday’s Children provides a lifetime of healing for families who have been forever changed by terrorism, military conflict, or mass violence. Through a time-tested, long-term approach, Tuesday’s Children programming serves and supports our nation’s Military Families of the Fallen; builds resilience and common bonds in communities worldwide recovering from tragedies; and keeps the promise to support all those impacted by Tuesday, September 11th. For more information, please visit www.tuesdayschildren.org.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 19:09:412021-10-29 19:11:43Smithfield® and Gene Haas Foundation Donate $50,000 To Tuesday’s Children Charity In Honor Of The 20th Anniversary Of Sept. 11
This weekend will feature one of the more special Subway Series of the past two decades.
The Mets on Wednesday announced the details of how they will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Before they play the Yankees on Saturday at Citi Field, 2001 Mets manager Bobby Valentine will throw the first pitch to 2001 Yankees manager Joe Torre.
Both teams will wear first responder caps during batting practice and the game, a reversal of MLB’s previous rules that did not allow the Mets and Yankees to rep gear after the first pitch. In 2019, Pete Alonso discussed the red tape he faced when he bought his Mets teammates customized patriotic cleats without asking for MLB’s permission.
“Caps from the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction will all be represented to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice,” the Mets said in their statement on Wednesday.
In addition, over 14 former Mets coaches and players from the 2001 team are expected to attend the game, including Hall of Famer Mike Piazza. Piazza hit the go-ahead home run on Sept. 21, 2001 vs. the Braves at Shea Stadium in what was the first sporting event in New York City following the attacks.
Organizations represented on the field Saturday will be Tuesday’s Children, the Visionary Network from the 9/11 Museum, Answer the Call — New York Police and Fire Widows’ & Children Benefit Fund, which was created by Rusty Staub, the Feel Good Foundation, helping those suffering from 9/11 related illnesses and Mets employees who lost loved ones on 9/11 and those who worked tirelessly at Shea Stadium to aid the support effort.
First responders will be joined on the field with the FDNY honor guard, NYPD honor guard, PAPD pipe & drum and honor guard, DSNY pipe & drum and honor guard, OEM, Department of Corrections and Supreme Court Officers.
The ceremony is expected to begin at 7 p.m. and the Citi Field gates will open to fans at 5:10 p.m. The Mets are encouraging those attending the game to take mass transit.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 15:07:312021-10-07 15:08:11Mets announce Subway Series ceremony details for 20th anniversary of 9/11
This weekend will feature one of the more special Subway Series of the past two decades.
The Mets on Wednesday announced the details of how they will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Before they play the Yankees on Saturday at Citi Field, 2001 Mets manager Bobby Valentine will throw the first pitch to 2001 Yankees manager Joe Torre.
Both teams will wear first responder caps during batting practice and the game, a reversal of MLB’s previous rules that did not allow the Mets and Yankees to rep gear after the first pitch. In 2019, Pete Alonso discussed the red tape he faced when he bought his Mets teammates customized patriotic cleats without asking for MLB’s permission.
“Caps from the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction will all be represented to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice,” the Mets said in their statement on Wednesday.
In addition, over 14 former Mets coaches and players from the 2001 team are expected to attend the game, including Hall of Famer Mike Piazza. Piazza hit the go-ahead home run on Sept. 21, 2001 vs. the Braves at Shea Stadium in what was the first sporting event in New York City following the attacks.
Organizations represented on the field Saturday will be Tuesday’s Children, the Visionary Network from the 9/11 Museum, Answer the Call — New York Police and Fire Widows’ & Children Benefit Fund, which was created by Rusty Staub, the Feel Good Foundation, helping those suffering from 9/11 related illnesses and Mets employees who lost loved ones on 9/11 and those who worked tirelessly at Shea Stadium to aid the support effort.
First responders will be joined on the field with the FDNY honor guard, NYPD honor guard, PAPD pipe & drum and honor guard, DSNY pipe & drum and honor guard, OEM, Department of Corrections and Supreme Court Officers.
The ceremony is expected to begin at 7 p.m. and the Citi Field gates will open to fans at 5:10 p.m. The Mets are encouraging those attending the game to take mass transit.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 15:03:282021-10-07 15:05:47Mets announce Subway Series ceremony details for 20th anniversary of 9/11
Anthony Perez was killed in the 9/11 attacks, leaving behind three children, including daughter Olivia Vilardi-Perez. Perez was one of more than 600 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died that day.
Voices 9/11 Living Memorial
Olivia Vilardi-Perez signs her name just like her father, Anthony.
Anthony died on 9/11, when Vilardi-Perez was ten years old, one of more than 600 Cantor Fitzgerald employees working on the top floors of the north tower that morning. Years later, in college, Vilardi-Perez decided to get his signature tattooed.
“I gave the tattoo artist the signature off of his will, which was morbid enough as it is,” she said. “And he’s like, alright, I just need you to sign this paperwork. So I’m signing, and he goes ‘You understand you sign your name just like your father, right?’”
“It was very special, very weird.”
Olivia Vilardi-Perez was ten when her father, Anthony Perez, died in the 9/11 attacks. As an adult, she sees his selflessness and sense of humor in herself.
Photo: Olivia Vilardi Perez
It took years for Vilardi-Perez to get comfortable talking about her father, she said. In the aftermath of his death, she felt like she had to be the “rock” of the family, trying to stay calm and strong when her relatives were struggling.
“My uncle was getting married September 1, 2002,” she said. “I was supposed to walk down the aisle with my dad. The day of the wedding, my uncle was really struggling with that. I just felt the need to be the rock. I didn’t want to bring my dad up to anyone because it would make them upset, and I’d just feel upset when other people were crying or experiencing pain.”
Anthony Perez was a huge “Star Wars” fan — something his daughter Olivia says he passed on to she and her brother.
Voices 9/11 Living Memorial
Anthony and Vilardi-Perez’s mother weren’t married, and she lived primarily with her mother, spending some weekends with her father, stepmother, and two half-siblings. She was old enough when he passed to remember him, but young enough that those memories are hazy.
“Twenty years later, sometimes, you’re stuck wondering if it’s a real memory, if it’s a dream, if it’s something you made up to feel closer to him,” she said. “There are a few things I know about my dad. My dad loved video games, which he 100 percent has passed on to me. He loved ‘Star Wars,’ which he passed on to my brother and I. And he was just a jokester.”
Hearing stories about him as an adult, she said, is special. They’re not the kinds of stories friends and family would have told to her as a child, and they reveal parts of him she doesn’t think she would have appreciated as a kid, including parts of him she sees reflected in herself.
Olivia Vilardi Perez
Now a high school science teacher, Vilardi-Perez said she’s always been the kind of person to put herself second to help other people, something her father was always doing. When someone is having a hard time, she’ll do anything to make them laugh.
“To hear the love that he felt for me, I don’t think I can explain the gravity of that,” she said. “It’s always nice to hear the lovely stories, but when things were bad for him, his main concerns were me and his children. It just goes to show you how great of a person he truly, truly was.”
The only person in her school who had lost a parent on 9/11, Vilardi-Perez was frustrated by the way people treated her – like she was fragile.
She got involved with Tuesday’s Children, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to support children and families who lost someone on 9/11. Even now, she’s still meeting new people through the organization, making connections with those who have experienced the same grief.
Sara Wingerath-Schlanger, senior program director at Tuesday’s Children, is still working to expand the mentorship program the organization has implemented to match grieving family members with someone who could help them through their loss long-term.
The average age of children of victims on 9/11 was eight or nine, Wingerath-Schlanger said, so they’ve served a wide range of ages as those children grew up and needed support. Enrollment increased especially on the fifth and tenth anniversaries, she said.
“No matter how old you were, if you were a child, you will re-grieve,” she said. “At different milestones, at different developmental stages. The big ones, like graduation and walking down the aisle, and the small ones like I’m walking down the street and I smell my dad’s cologne.”
Of the nearly 3,000 people who died on 9/11, 266 were Brooklyn residents. In the two decades since the attacks, first responders and those who worked at Ground Zero in the weeks and months following have continued to get sick and pass away from health conditions they developed on the site.
Tuesday’s Children was founded to support children and families of 9/11 victims, but has since expanded its mission to include children of first responders and soldiers who have died in the years since the attacks.
Tuesday’s Children
Many children were too young on 9/11 to remember the parent they lost. 108 women who lost partners that day were pregnant, and their children never met their fathers.
“Some kids feel like, ‘I was so little, I don’t have memories, or I was born after,’” Wingerath-Schlanger said. “And how does that make them feel, and how do they walk through this world figuring that out. And those that have memories and are able to say to themselves ‘I can feel the void.’”
Vilardi-Perez and her younger sister struggled with their memories of Anthony.
“I think her and I held resentment toward each other for too long,” she said. “I resented her because she lived with him. I didn’t live with him. And she resented me because I had the memory.”
The physical distance between Vilardi-Perez and her father means that a lot of her memories with him were in the small moments they shared together.
“We were watching a movie, the movie ‘Face/Off,’ and he’d be like, ‘Don’t look, don’t look, it’s gory!’” she said. “And he’d put his hand over my eyes, but leave just that little crack that if I just wanted to look, I could. But I don’t do gore. I never looked.”
Anthony Perez, a father of three, decorates his Long Island home for Christmas. Perez died on 9/11, but his legacy of selflessness and laughter lives on in his children.
Voices 9/11 Living Memorial
Grieving her father isn’t linear. Every year, the anniversary is “an impossible grip around your heart, around your throat,” she said. Daily life got easier, but milestones – even the bad ones — are still difficult.
“I went through a really tough breakup recently, and I just remember saying ‘My dad would kill him. No doubt about it, my dad would kill him,’” she said. “He would buy me a drink, or he would help me, or he would guide me.”
Some of her best friends lost fathers who were firefighters, she said, and the firehouse door is always open when they need support.
“I am extremely envious of that,” she said. “I wish I had something like that. My father was never recovered, I don’t even have a gravesite. It is an alienating feeling knowing that I don’t necessarily have what they have in terms of memories or protection or guidance or father-like figures who just want to look after you.”
She pours that grief and the long journey through it into teaching, she said. Every year she starts out telling her students about her father’s death and the way she struggled through it. She’s upfront about her mental health and the help she needed as she got older.
“I have students who face horrible things, that no child should ever have to face,” she said. “And to have a teacher standing in front of them, who, I’m not going to say I’m fine, but I’m doing OK — who can make it through that, I think that’s a really important thing.”
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 14:54:352021-10-07 15:02:1220 YEARS ON, CHILDREN OF 9/11 GRIEVE
FLUSHING, N.Y., September 8, 2021 – The New York Mets today announced ceremonial details surrounding this Saturday’s 20th anniversary remembrance of 9/11. The club will wear first responder caps during batting practice and the game on September 11 vs. the Yankees. Caps from the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction will all be represented to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice.
The two New York managers from the 2001 season will participate in the ceremonial first pitch – Bobby Valentine will throw to Joe Torre. Over 14 former Mets coaches and players from the 2001 team are expected to attend the game, including Hall of Famer Mike Piazza. Piazza hit the go-ahead home run on September 21, 2001 vs. Atlanta at Shea Stadium in what was the first sporting event in New York City following the attacks.
Organizations represented on the field during the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 will be Tuesday’s Children, The Visionary Network from the 9/11 Museum, Answer the Call – New York Police and Fire Widows’ & Children Benefit Fund, which was created by Rusty Staub, The Feel Good Foundation, helping those suffering from 9/11 related illnesses and Mets employees who lost loved ones on 9/11 and those who worked tirelessly at Shea Stadium to aid the support effort.
First responders will be joined on the field with the FDNY honor guard, NYPD honor guard, PAPD pipe & drum and honor guard, DSNY pipe & drum and honor guard, OEM, Department of Corrections and Supreme Court Officers.
Performances Include:
America the Beautiful – 17-year-old New York Jazz recording artist Anaïs Reno
National Anthem – NYPD Cops and Kids Chorus
God Bless America – FDNY Firefighter Regina Wilson
The Mets are encouraging fans to take mass transit to Citi Field during the entire Yankees series. The Citi Field parking lots will open at 4:10 pm on Saturday and all ballpark gates will open at 5:10 pm.
In addition, the Mets Virtual Vault has an extensive collection of videos, photos and stories over the last 20 years commemorating the team’s connection to 9/11 and can be found at www.metsheritage.com.
A general view of the national anthem as the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets line up with New York City first responders to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, at Citi Field on September 11, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
Photo credit Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
The ceremony will start at 7 p.m. with the game to follow. WCBS 880 will have special live coverage from the ballpark starting in the afternoon.
The Mets will wear FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction caps during batting practice and the game to honor the bravery and sacrifice of 9/11 responders.
The teams’ managers from the 2001 season will handle the ceremonial first pitch, with Bobby Valentine throwing to Joe Torre.
Over 14 former Mets coaches and players from the 2001 team are expected to attend the game, including Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who hit an iconic home run in the first pro-sporting event in the city after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
First responders will be on the field along with the FDNY honor guard, NYPD honor guard, PAPD pipe & drum and honor guard, DSNY pipe & drum and honor guard, OEM, Department of Corrections and Supreme Court Officers.
The NYPD Cops and Kids Chorus will perform the National Anthem.
Anaïs Reno, a 17-year-old New York Jazz recording artist, will sing “America the Beautiful” and FDNY Firefighter Regina Wilson will perform “God Bless America.”
The Citi Field parking lots will open at 4:10 pm on Saturday and all ballpark gates will open at 5:10 pm.
Fans are encouraged to take mass transit to the game.
The Mets Virtual Vault also has an extensive collection of videos, photos and stories over the last 20 years commemorating the team’s connection to 9/11.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 14:44:272021-10-07 14:48:43Mets reveal details of 9/11 remembrance ceremony for Saturday’s Subway Series game
Olivia Perez, 30, was only 10 years old when she lost her father, Anthony Perez, on September 11, 2001. He was working as a technical specialist on the 103rd floor of the North Tower.
“I can walk you step by step through the 11th. Anything after that for approximately four years, I couldn’t tell you anything,” Perez recalled.
“Kids were pulled left and right to go home early,” Perez remembers. She said she was in her middle school orchestra class when her teacher told the class the World Trade Center was attacked.
Anthony Perez was working as a technical specialist on the 103rd floor of the North Tower on September 11, 2001.
“It was just an instinctual– I mean, the sinking feeling in my stomach. I had just been to the World Trade Center. I had just been to work with my dad a week prior. He had just gotten the job there relatively recently, and I knew he was no longer here,” said Perez.
Lauren Charette, 28, had the opposite experience. “If she can walk you step through step through her day, I’ve got five minutes.”
Mark Charette was holding an annual planning meeting on the 100th floor of the North Tower on September 11, 2001.
Charette’s father Mark usually worked in his office in New Jersey, but on 9/11 he was holding an annual planning meeting on the 100th floor of the North Tower. She was only eight years old at the time.
“My mother knew he had gone into the city that day .. she sat me and the older of my two brothers down and told us that the towers had been hit,” Charette said. “And this conversation, I don’t really remember very well, but she must have sat us down a couple days later, it was definitely the weekend, and told us he was dead. The only memory I have in-between about it is someone at recess when we still weren’t sure, ’cause I know somebody was saying something, and I know I got super upset.” Charlette said.
An Nguyen was just four years old when his father, Khang Nguyen died in the Navy Command center at the Pentagon.
An Nguyen, 24, says he has a vague memory of September 11. He was just four years old when his father, Khang Nguyen, died in the Navy Command center at the Pentagon.
“I honestly thought he would come back at some point. And it was a couple weeks later when the funeral came,” Nguyen recalled, “I saw my father’s casket, it was pushed into the cremation chamber. That’s when I knew that he’s not gonna come back… it took even a couple more years after that even to thoroughly understand that he’s not gonna come back, and try to live my life and develop my identity without my father.”
Letters were collected by “Tuesday’s Children,” an organization created to support the families affected by 9/11.
Perez, Charette and Nguyen wrote to their late fathers a decade ago in a book called, “The Legacy Letters.” Their letters were collected by “Tuesday’s Children,” an organization created to support the families affected by 9/11. Earlier this month they revisited their letters with “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King.
Perez said writing the letter in 2011 was cathartic: “I want him to be proud. I want him to know that though his life was cut short, that he is leaving a lasting impact on the planet. He was my everything.”
Anthony Perez said writing the letter in 2011 was cathartic.
Anthony Perez March 31, 1968 – September 11, 2001
“Dear Dad,
You were the greatest man I could ever know. I’m sure any girl who loves her father as much as I do would say the same, but from the short time I got to spend with you, I know you were the greatest person alive.
…
In the past ten years, I’ve done so much growing up and even more teaching. I graduated high school and got into the college of my dreams, but neither was possible without learning my first lesson on September 11: Life is too short –chase your dreams.
…
Dad, I miss just hanging out with you, Anthony James and little Alexis. Since you were always such a big Star Wars fanatic. You passed your passion to us. Anthony James used to say to you, “Watch a Star Wuhz” and you would run around yelling and tickling us. You always made a joke of the little things, and I absolutely adored the short amount of time we had together. It is funny, though: Trying to pick a single memory is like asking someone to pick her favorite dream. These memories are the dreams that I hold close to my heart to keep me going.
…
I love and miss you dearly,
Olivia” (Excerpt from “Legacy Letters)
“I wrote about closure in my letter.” Perez said. “And I sit here and I listen to everyone and I don’t know what closure is anymore. Is it having a– place for me to go visit where he’s buried? Is it coming to peace with what happened? Is it forgiving the individuals who caused this?”
“I don’t know what closure is. I’ve worked really hard to get where I am to overcome this terrible thing. And does that mean it’s closure? Does it mean I don’t have moments of utter weakness? Some days it’s impossible to get out of bed.”
“Have you forgiven?” King asked.
“Carrying hatred in your heart doesn’t help anyone,” Perez said. “It’s exhausting. It’s not worth it. And they held a lot of hatred for whatever their reasons were. And I feel bad for that. And it breaks my heart that we all grew up without our parents for that.”
Mark Lawrence Charette February 19, 1963 – September 11, 2001
Mark Lawrence Charette
February 19, 1963 – September 11, 2001
Dad,
Could you answer some of the questions I’ll never get to ask? I’m looking at colleges–which one should I pick?
I passed my black belt test like I promised. Were you watching? Did you see me spar at nations?
I’m graduating in June. Will you clap for me?
I passed my driver’s test–isn’t that scary?
….
Do you think I’m picking the right career?
Do you miss going out to breakfast?
Did you know I learned how to start a campfire?
I still can’t catch any fish–funny, huh?
Would you still take my door off the hinges when I slam it?
Hey, Dad, why’s the sky blue?
I’ve forgotten. What’s your favorite color?
Do you remember the beach? Could you teach me how to build sandcastles?
Have you read what I wrote?
Would you go hiking with me?
Do you love me?
Most of all I wanted to ask, am I still your little girl?
Forever,
Lauren
“Still your little girl. That question really got to me because I think every daughter at some point asks that question of her father,” King said.
“I always felt like it was the big question. It was also the first question that I came up with. That was the one I wanted the answer to the most,” Charette said.
Khang Nguyen with his son An.
Khang Nguyen December 19, 1959 – September 11, 2011
Dear Dad,
I had just turned four years old when you were gone, killed in the terrorist attack while working in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. My memory of you is vague. Our family photos and the stories from Mom help to keep your memory alive. I love you very much, even though you’re not a part of my everyday life.
…
Early on that morning, September 11, while Mom was seeing me off at the school bus in front of the house, you suddenly ran out and waved to me. You called out loudly, “An, say goodbye to Daddy one more time,” while the bus was driving away, a gesture you had never made before. It was the last time father and son would see each other.
….
Now, I am fourteen years old. Sadly, you could not be here for my music lessons. I am saddened and sometimes angry that I was forced to grow up without a father. I have learned about terrorism and the war on terror.
…
You are my hero. You are always in my heart. I am so proud to be your son. I promise to be a good student and study hard so that when I become a man, I will make you, up in heaven, happy and proud of me.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svg00Emily Racanellihttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-20-BLUE.svgEmily Racanelli2021-09-08 13:23:102021-10-07 13:29:49“Legacy Letters”: Children of 9/11 reflect on messages they wrote to their late fathers
