Who can forget the horror of the images of the
World Trade Center towers collapsing and the thousands of
debris-covered New Yorkers fleeing the site or attempting
to rescue the trapped survivors? The tragedy that changed
our world had the most immediate and profound effect on the
people who lost loved ones that day, but we all continue to
feel the impact. Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband Ron was
one of the 2,973 victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was
living an idyllic life as a suburban housewife and mother
on September 10, 2001. After the initial grief from her husband's
murder subsided, she channeled her rage into a campaign to
discover how those responsible could be held accountable so
that the world could become safe once again.
Breitweiser and three other 9/11 widows worked
relentlessly to force the government to establish an unbiased
agency to look into all aspects of the 9/11 tragedy. Known
as "The Jersey Girls," they arose at 5:00 a.m.,
sent their children off to school, and piled into her "widowmobile"
to drive to Washington to lobby congressmen, to testify before
committees, and to carry out their own research into pre-
and post-9/11 events. Although originally a loyal Republican,
she became disillusioned with the Bush-Cheney presidency and
its opposition to disclosure of information that could prevent
further terrorist activity. Eventually, thanks to her activism,
the 9/11 Commission was created.
Breitweiser has a law degree, and although she
had put her professional life aside to raise her daughter,
she speaks knowledgably about laws and the workings of political
and legal agencies. The information that she and her fellow
9/11 widows discovered as a result of their tireless research
is shocking and frightening. Mistakes and intentional cover-ups
occurred more often than the American public knew, but the
book doesn't take on a tone of sensationalism. Breitweiser
chronicles her life prior to and after the death of her husband
in a conversational, informational manner. The opening and
closing passages are personal messages to her husband, detailing
what is happening in her and their daughter's lives. Rather
than being sentimental, however, they serve to soften the
horror of bureaucratic flaws she exposes in the body of the
book.
This book is a must-read for everyone in America,
no matter the political affiliation, no matter the cultural
heritage. We're all affected by the terrorist acts that continue
to shape our world, and Breitweiser not only exposes the recent
past, but she outlines the steps ordinary citizens can take
to see that another 9/11 never occurs.
by Kristen Breitweiser
