By Talat Hamdani
New York
I lost my son, Mohammad Salman Hamdani, at the WTC terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Salman was my first-born. I joined my husband, Mohammad Saleem Hamdani, in New York on February 3, 1979. Salman was thirteen months old at that time and was learning to walk. We had come in search of the American Dream, which was cruelly shattered that fateful day of September 11, 2001.
Salman was a paramedic and an NYPD Cadet who voluntarily went there to rescue his fellow Americans and gave the ultimate sacrifice. He had been accepted to Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s MD PhD program in July 2001. A patriotic citizen, he wanted to become a medical doctor on American soil. Ironically, he was suspected and investigated as a terrorist and we were informed on March 20, 2002, that his remains were found, twenty four pieces, outside the North Tower.
Salman was mentioned in the Patriot Act of 2001, Sec 102: a.6:
“Many Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have acted heroically during the attacks on the United States, including Mohammad Salman Hamdani, a 23-year old New Yorker of Pakistani descent, who is believed to have gone to the World Trade Center to offer rescue assistance and is now missing”.
My life changed forever. I expressed my grief in numerous interviews on the first anniversary of 9/11.
There was a void in life, a vacuum, a sense of incompleteness. I stopped cooking as happiness was an alien creature. The loss of our son took its toll on my husband, and he lost his battle with life on July 21, 2004. The loss of my husband, my best friend, my partner of grief, whom I knew for the last 38 years, made me sit back and reflect on my life. Destiny pushed me on a new path of life. I am compelled to speak the truth and participate actively for the security of all human life.
An educator by profession, I was living in my own world, far away from the world of politics. That’s why although a registered Democrat, at the advice of my husband, I had crossed party lines and voted for G.W.Bush in 2000, like Salman and my husband. I paid dearly for my mistake and this realization has forced me to get involved in politics. I don’t want to repeat my mistake, nor suffer any more. That is why I am endorsing the Kerry-Edwards team.
My husband always wondered why the Bin Ladins were escorted to safety from our country and not handed over to us? Is this the way you make America safer? Americans are being hunted down and beheaded and we have lost our dignity and credibility in the global community.
I endorse John Kerry because he has fought for our land and has seen death, and therefore he can empathize with our loss and protect us from any further terrorist attacks. He has put his life in harm’s way for our nation, and will do again, if necessary. John Kerry supports the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations without jeopardizing our civil liberties. John Kerry is a man of moral values who does not lie and I trust him and have full faith in him.
John Kerry believes in a strong coalition of nations, not of puppets.
He knows the importance of alliances which is an important tool to win this war on terror.
America needs a man of moral values, a man of principles, a man who will not exploit the tragedy and loss of others life for his own selfish ends. America needs a man of integrity and honesty so she may get her dignity and command respect in the world once again. John Kerry has all these attributes and I know he will lead our nation to her old glory of liberty and justice for all.