Sunday, September 11, 2011

Recognizing 9/11 in Aspen





This morning's 9/11 ceremony in downtown Aspen included words from people who were in New York City at the time of the attacks. Aspen resident Dick Butera described a massive cloud of debris heading toward his hotel near the Twin Towers. He became emotional yesterday when he described calling his children from the hotel to say goodbye. Butera survived and his hotel became the feeding center for thousands of first-responders and others at the site. Another Aspen resident, Andrea Booher, took photos at Ground Zero for FEMA. She thanked first-responders yesterday, for their hard work in NYC and everywhere else. The ceremony focused on work done by police, firefighters and others who were on the scene to help. Audience members were asked to place roses in empty firefighters' boots. The boots signified those lost in the 9/11 attacks. For the full story, log onto www.aspenpublicradio.org.