Not invited to the ceremony in NYC marking the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, are representatives of the public safety agencies that responded the day that almost 3,000 people were murdered (I’m not counting the 19 Osama bin Laden brain-washed idiots).

The party line is it’s a day “for the families.”  There will be current and former politicians present, and undoubtedly a small army of media, but in a heart-wrenching show of restraint, only a limited number of lawmakers from the Tri-state area will be allowed to attend we are told.  Thank goodness, it was starting to look like another photo opportunity to bolster poll ratings, make us forget the troubles in this country and band-together in a show of unity, sell books and memorabilia.

Yes, you can buy a t-shirt to remember that day 10 years ago. While you’re at it, why not go online and order a t-shirt from the Peace Museum in Hiroshima? Both extremely classy — you will be the envy of your friends.  In my mind, this type of commercialization is akin to taking the local news media with me to final resting place of my father or brother, maybe doing a tearful interview and selling my own t-shirts.

I don’t dwell on what happened that day, but I remember it every time I put on my sport coat with a small lapel pin, a dove flying over a background of the American flag with the twin towers in the background.  It was given to me by a friend and colleague who made a few of them for his friends. He worked at ground zero in his capacity as an Emergency Department Physician for a long, long time.  He and I had taught response to terrorism classes together starting with the old Soldier Biological Chemical Command Program starting in 1996, and traveled overseas to help prepare our men and women defending our freedom. He came down with throat cancer a few years after working all that time on the pile, went through numerous treatment options, including surgery, which left him trying to teach using an electronic voice enhancer when we taught.  He lost his fight in 2008.

I get quite a number of comments on that lapel pin, given to me by a special man in memory of a special day.  No you can’t get a pin like this and no, we won’t see another man like him.  Why would I want to remember a day, I can’t forget?