Reciting names of 2,977 victims of 9/11 is like praying

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Updated: November 9, 2011 12:15PM

Few experiences could possibly be filled with more sadness, anger and hope than listening to a reading of the long list of names of the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and four fateful flights on that sunny morning of Sept. 11 10 years ago.

As our country commemorates that 10th anniversary, I’d suggest that you take some time this weekend to read aloud with your family the names of the 9/11 victims. Read each name carefully, in a solemn cadence, and they become charged with the power of prayer.

You might want to start with the names of those who died in the twin towers and on the ground near the World Trade Center.

Gordon M. Aamoth, Jr.

Edelmiro Abad

Maria Rose Abad

Andrew Anthony Abate

Vincent Abate

Laurence Christopher Abel

William F. Abrahamson

Richard Anthony Aceto . . .

And continue with the names of those who died at the Pentagon.

Christopher L. Burford

Daniel M. Caballero

Jose O. Calderon-Olmedo

Angelene C. Carter

Sharon A. Carver

John J. Chada

Rosa Maria Chapa . . .

Then read the names of the passengers on American Flight 11.

Susan A. Mackay

Karen Ann Martin

Thomas F. McGuinness Jr.

Christopher D. Mello

Jeffrey Peter Mladenik

Carlos Alberto Montoya

Antonio Jesus Montoya Valdes

Laura Lee Morabito . . .

And continue with the names of the passengers aboard United Flight 175.

Ralph Kershaw

Heinrich Kimmig

Amy R. King

Brian Kinney

Kathryn L. LaBorie

Robert G. Leblanc

Maclovio Lopez Jr . . .

And then the names of the passengers on American Flight 77.

Christopher C. Newton

Barbara K. Olson

Ruben S. Ornedo

Robert Penninger

Robert R. Ploger III

Zandra F. Ploger . . .

And finally, you might want to read aloud the names of the passengers on United Flight 93 who fought back, preventing what could have been a second strike on Washington, D.C.

Waleska Martinez

Nicole Miller

Louis J. Nacke II

Donald Arthur Peterson

Jean Hoadley Peterson

Mark Rothenberg

Christine Snyder

John Talignani . . .

The names of the 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks reveal a global diversity of personal histories, races, cultures, ways of life and creeds. Besides the 2,740 American casualties, there are 237 foreign nationals (not counting the 19 hijackers) who also died in the attacks. All of the names cam be found at www.legacy.com/Sept11/Home.aspx.

Among the victims, there are many heroes, including more than 400 emergency workers who died at the scene at the World Trade Center trying to rescue people and fighting fires.

On the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our country’s history, my family and I will read out loud the names in honor of the victims and their families. I hope my children will learn that hate, intolerance and fanaticism — political and religious — were responsible for this massacre.

We will read each name in the hope that the horrors of Sept. 11 — and March 11, 2004, in Madrid or July 22, 2011, in Oslo — will never happen again.