Icons of Liberty

I took this picture on 4 July 1984 when we and friends and children were at anchor in New York Harbor on a rented 45-ketch and waiting for the sunset moment when President Reagan rededicated a refurbished Statue of Liberty: "We are the keepers of the flame of liberty; we hold it high for the world to see."
The memorable celebratory fireworks above the statue and the New York skyline lasted hours, and forever in our memories.
On 11 September 2001, I hurried home to watch most of CNN's live broadcast of terrorist attacks on these famous towers. Never before had a nearby statue to Liberty meant so much to me as further reports of concerted terrorist efforts elsewhere in America were broadcast to a stunned world and a furious America.
Six years ago those acts brought respect for liberty to another generation with the revelation that America remains unique, and that both secular and religious oppressions continue despite our modern, enlightened times. The memory of those towers going down before my eyes, the hot ashes of thousands of immigrant descendants mixed into that cloaking inferno of dust swirling down the city's canyons, strengthened my resolve to hold Liberty's Lamp high.