2007 Man of the Year

Anthony Gardner

We met Anthony in the beginning months following September 11, 2001. We were both family members. Anthony had lost his older brother and we had lost our son. We agreed on many issues. We wanted the truth to be told. We wanted answers. We wanted the City of New York to do the right thing. We met at the many meetings that were held during those early days. Anthony created a family group entitled the “World Trade Center United Family Group.” His mission was to provide knowledge and support to family members who were coping with their terrible loss. He organized an exchange and reached out to the families from the Oklahoma City bombing knowing that they understood the loss we were suffering. Families from New York City went to Oklahoma City to support the families for their anniversary. The families from Oklahoma City came to New York City to support us for our anniversary. We were privileged to become a part of that exchange. We have returned to Oklahoma for 3 years. Our friendships with the folks from Oklahoma City are very special to us.

Anthony has been on the forefront of many of the issues that we are still concerned about. He has been vocal about the remains at the Fresh Kills Garbage Dump in Staten Island, the memorial, and the new remains at Ground Zero that are still being located. He is passionate about honoring his brother and all the victims of September 11, 2001.

Although these are great reasons to honor him, we are honoring him for a different reason. Anthony is developing a September 11, 2001 curriculum for high school students to help them learn what actually happened and to educate our young citizens and future leaders in strategies which will help prevent such an attack from occurring again. This is, in our opinion, the missing piece that is essential in lessons learned from this horrific hate–filled event. We must never forget what hatred did. We must empower our youth to make changes in their attitudes, help them to become tolerant while at the same time attentive to hate–filled acts. We must also help our young citizens learn about those who were lost. Anthony’s vision and plan for the future will ensure that these things occur.

We are honored to call him our friend. We are pleased that he is moving us in this direction. We hope that this curriculum will be adopted by the nation’s schools. We can never turn back time, but, we can learn from catastrophic events. We must learn from them. If we do not, they will be repeated. We can never allow that to happen.

Congratulations Anthony! We are so delighted to have you as our 2007 “Man of the Year.”

To learn more about 2007’s Person of the Year, Anthony Gardner, please visit http://www.wtcufg.org/.