Posted on 04/06/2002 5:11:56 PM PST by Enlightiator
NEW YORK- World Trade Center victim Salman Hamdani - initially labeled a possible terrorist after Sept. 11 - was remembered at his long-delayed funeral as a hero lost in the twin towers' collapse while trying to rescue others.
The 23-year-old Muslim, his remains in a flag-draped coffin at a Manhattan mosque, was hailed at Friday's service for a selfless and fatal choice made on his way to work: heading to ground zero and aiding his fellow Americans.
"We don't know how many people he helped, how many lives he saved," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. "But if you look at his life, you know he was determined to make a difference - and he did. ... He was indeed a hero."
Hamdani, a trained medical technician and member of the police Cadet Corps, was missing for more than six months after the terrorist attacks that collapsed the twin towers and killed more than 2,800 people.
His remains - along with his medical bag, containing an ID - were finally recovered near the north tower. Hamdani was positively identified on March 20.
Several hundred mourners turned out Friday to remember the aspiring doctor.
Five floral arrangements stood behind his casket, and scores of police cadets sat on the floor, their shoes removed in accordance with Muslim custom. His parents, two brothers and other family members sat in front of the casket; two photo collages of their slain son greeted mourners.
Hamdani's father and other relatives wore red, white and blue scarves featuring the American flag.
"You always said to me, 'Mom, I'm very proud of you,' " said his mother, Talat. "Today, it's our turn. We are proud of you. You have become immortal through your actions."
Hamdani, an American citizen who had come to the United States when he was just a year old, was known to co-workers at Rockefeller University as Sal. The Queens College graduate, who had majored in biochemistry, worked as a research assistant at one of Rockefeller's laboratories.
On Sept. 11, Hamdani left his Queens home in the morning and apparently saw the disaster in lower Manhattan unfold from the elevated tracks of a subway train. He immediately headed toward the scene.
In the weeks after his disappearance, a newspaper linked him to the terrorist attacks, and a flier with his picture was circulated among city police officers, saying an FBI-Police Department joint terrorist task force wanted to speak with him. The fliers were unauthorized, and their source was unclear, police later said. But the rumors about his involvement in the attack spread.
On Friday, his mother blasted the news reports, saying, "If your name was David, the story would have been very different."
She recalled hoping at one point that one piece of innuendo was correct: that her son was in federal custody, rather than buried in lower Manhattan. At least then, she thought, he would be alive.
William Hersh, one of his professors, remembered him as "a real New Yorker" who enjoyed listening to Top 40 music on a local radio station. Another colleague recalled his "boundless enthusiasm" for life.
His mother also recalled her son's fascination with the "Star Wars" movies. She said, "My young Jedi, you gave your life for the children of ignorance" - a reference to the terrorists who piloted the hijacked planes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the police commissioner in consoling the family.
"We have an example of how one can make the world better," Bloomberg said. "Salman stood up when most people would have gone in the other direction. He went in and helped people."
Let all of America honor heroes such as him, men and women who died trying to save lives, not destroy them.
As far as Bin Laden goes, if he is still alive, let him claim John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban - Al Qaeda", but he can never claim Salman Hamdani, a True American hero.
Go with God, Sal.
InshyAllah .....
Individually? Many Muslims are pretty fine folks.
It is [Collective] militant islam that is The Beast.
And moderate islam its Trojan Horse.
What a blessing to his family that he was vindicated--and God bless him for his courageous acts.
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