Miami, U.S.A — A Celebration of Life Memorial Service for Mikel E. Semler, Royal Caribbean Wichita Facility Director, will be held at 1:00 p.m. on July 7, 2012, at the Beech Activity Center, 9710 E. Central Ave., Wichita, KS. Please join us in celebrating Mike’s life, his commitment to his Royal Caribbean family and the community.

Semler, 50, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, June 18, 2012, at his home in Wichita. Mikel had been employed with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., where he was Director, Trade Support and Service for Celebrity Cruises, as well as the facility director. Upon joining the company in 1999, he oversaw the creation and development of the contact center facility in Wichita. With over 400 employees, the contact center is a key component of handling the needs of the guest experience.

A very active community leader, Mikel was most recently the Chairman of the Kansas Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He also held board appointments for United Way of the Plains (having previously served as its Chairman), Kansas Communities in Schools and Go Wichita, a local travel and tourism association.

He is survived by his parents, William and Jane Semler; sister, Sally Semler and husband, Tim; nephews,Kyle and Toby Semler; uncle and aunt, Don and Tam Dickerson of California; longtime best friend, Ann Wertzberger; loving boys, Arnold and Willis, his beloved boxers: and a host of friends, colleagues, as well as his Royal Caribbean family.

In lieu of flowers, the family has established that donations may be made to either the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Kansas or the Kansas Humane Society.

The article Celebration of Life Memorial Service for Mikel Semler appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil in modern times. Countless ceremonies, gatherings and events will take place around the U.S. and world to honor approximately 3,000 people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

On Sunday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other city officials, will dedicate the newly built 9/11 Memorial at the site where the World Trade Center (WTC) towers once stood, according to American City & Country. “We had to design a memorial that would stand the test of time — and design the space that our city would need to grow and prosper,” Bloomberg said Tuesday at breakfast in Lower Manhattan sponsored by the Association for a Better New York. “I believe that history will record that we accomplished both.”

Bloomberg’s words are evidence of the perseverance that U.S. leaders and citizens have demonstrated in the years which followed the deadly events of 9/11.

On September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., a hijacked American Airlines (AA) Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A mere 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., hijacked United Airlines (UA) Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the WTC.  At 9:37 a.m., hijacked AA Flight 77 flew into the west wall of the Pentagon. At 10 a.m., the hijacked UA Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shaksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the plane which was believed to be traveling toward the White House.

According to The District of Columbia Website, a candlelight service will take place at the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. to honor the lives lost in the plane crash at the Pentagon.

President Obama and Vice President Biden will visit the crash site in Shaksville Sunday. Biden will later attend the dedication in New York. Obama will attend ceremonies in D.C., according to the New York Daily News.

Many will take a moment Sunday to remember the servicemen and servicewomen who lost their lives while responding to the terrorist attacks.

Police and firefighters in New York, and all around the U.S., are expected to observe a national Moment of Remembrance of the 9/11 attacks by sounding their police and firefighters sirens and bells, according to the Jackson County Times-Journal. At precisely 1 p.m EDT, bells will sound for a minute. Frank Lautenberg, U.S. Senator of New Jersey, encouraged the public to participate. “’This Moment of Remembrance’” will be a symbol of solidarity throughout the county and across the country. We must never forget what happened on that tragic day,” Lautenberg said.

Other individuals are sharing their perspectives and memories of 9/11 through a quieter, solitary activity – writing.

In post on the Foundry website, a Conservative policy news blog from the Heritage Foundation, Jessica Zuckerman reflects on how the events of 9/11 shaped the world for many young Americans. “I was barely a teenager on 9/11, but these memories will stay with me forever,” Zuckerman said. “For many in my generation, the events of September 11, 2001 shattered our naiveté and changed our perspective of the world. Coming of age in the War on Terror, we were defined by it.” Zuckerman said that after 9/11 her dreams of becoming a doctor or a teacher were replaced with an interest in the hot topic of homeland security and counterterrorism.

In an opinion piece written for the Washington Times, Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, of San Deigo, expressed outrage that the memorial for Flight 93, in Pennsylvania, has not been completed due to a lack of funding. “Flight 93 is an afterthought in the narrative of 9/11 and it shouldn’t be,” Falkenthal said.

Linda Paul, a guest columist for OregonLive, recalls her experience being inside the Pentagon when the airplane struck the building. “When the plane struck us, there was a single loud boom, more like a solid but muffled thud and the office shuddered, identical to the shudder of an earthquake,” Paul said. “I looked back to see the giant black cloud of smoke hovering over the building. I thought, ‘They’re killing us with our own damn airplanes.’ I may have said this aloud.”

Storytelling is a tool that many organizations are encouraging people to use in an effort to unite Americans and to honor the lives lost on 9/11.

The Washington Informer is inviting people to submit their stories of 9/11 along with photos to be added to the “Informer’s 9/11 Anniversary section.” One person who contributed to the Informer said, “That evening, I did nothing but watch television news and read the special edition of the Post. I knew that America would never be the same from then on.”

According to the Huffington Post, even the cooking community has come together to share their 9/11 experiences. The Food Republic interviewed 8 New York Chefs about that horrific morning. ”I remember while walking over the [Queensboro] Bridge, this one somber moment when someone, who clearly was from Ground Zero, covered in white dust, with a blank stare, was walking on the bridge,” said Bryan Voltaggio, chef at VOLT restaurant.

Similarly, StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization, “whose mission is to provide Americans…with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives,” dedicated space on their website for the oral telling of 9/11 stories. StoryCorps hopes to record one story for every life lost on 9/11.

“It was Christine’s first trip in an airplane,” Lee Hanson said during his recording for StoryCorp. He and his wife, Eunice Hanson, lost three family members on 9/11 – they were passengers on UA Flight 175.

According to Kirsti A. Dyer MD, a fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, our stories can strengthen us. “Storytelling can be regarded as one of the oldest healing arts; it has been used for centuries as a universal, useful way for the grieving person to cope with loss” Dyer said. “Telling the story can provide the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of one’s experiences.”

Codi Schneider, a 7 year-old at the time of 9/11, remembers the towers crumbling on TV and his father predicting the Air Force would send him to war soon, the Associated Press said. Codi’s father, an Air Force Chief Master, served in Iraq and was responsible for disarming enemy booby traps. Now a teenager, Codi said the years since 9/11 have been full of nightmares. He often wakes up screaming in the middle of the night.

According to the AP, Codi said he doesn’t want to be in the Air Force like his father. He wants to be a filmmaker or maybe a journalist when he grows up. “Whatever I do when I’m older,” Codi said “I want to tell people my story.”

While ceremonies to remember 9/11 will be the focus of Sunday for many Americans, the U.S. Homeland Security Department will be on alert in light of recent terrorist threats.

Image courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/6120234023/

The article A Decade After 9/11: Many Gather, Tell Stories appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The 9/11 Memorial, which will open on the 10th anniversary of the American national tragedy, has already attracted a lot of interest by the public, eager to book tickets for the opening.

But one of the pieces included in the Ground Zero memorial have caused such an offense to non-Christians that a US-based atheist group has filed a lawsuit against the museum administration to remove the cross-shaped steel beam on the grounds that other religions and nonreligious views should be equally represented.

The cross was blessed by Reverend Brian Jordan, a key force behind the preservation of symbols from the wreckage, and he was quoted by the Guardian for saying that no matter their religion, the beam had provided comfort to hundreds of suffering people and continues to do so.

The construction worker who found the symbolic beam in the rubbles after the devastating attack called it ‘a miracle’ — the beam is due to become part of the 9/11 museum collection that opens next year.

The president of American Atheist, Dave Silverman, who is behind the lawsuit for removal of the suggestive beam, said that 9/11 was a tragedy, “but the Christian community has secured sole representation in the memorial for itself at the exclusion of other religions and philosophies,” according to the Guardian.

Mr. Silverman explained that American Atheists had offered to pay for a more neutral arrangement; “a remedy that honors everyone equally, with a religion-neutral display, or display of equal size and prominence.” The group have suggested a firefighter carrying out a victim.

Museum officials have denied that there is any religious value connected to the beam but emphasize the role it played in the aftermath. Overall, the opening of the Ground Zero site has been a struggle for agreement since both victims’ families and interest groups have tried to affect the construction.

The Memorial is expected to accommodate a big crowd so any delays, such as a lawsuit, could seriously impede the conclusion of this painful chapter in American history.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/martystone/

The article Atheist Group Sue for Removal of 9/11 Memorial Cross appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

It has been about 10 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Even though its been ten years, Ground Zero has not been forgotten and continues to move forward. Proposed in 2006, New York City is building the Freedom Tower, which will be the city’s new commercial building. The building is not suppose to replace the twin towers, but instead it is built for remembrance of those who lost their lives and it is a symbol of the power of America. With an estimated completion in 2013, the World Trade Center will now consist of five different buildings and areas with the hopes of creating an economic boost for the United States. There will be five new skyscrapers, a September 11^th memorial and museum, a transportation hub, retail complex, and a center of performing arts. The site will be built with some of the worlds most famous architects including; David Childs and Santiago Calatrava with hopes of creating a substantiate and safe World Trade Center.

The first tower will soar over 1, 776 feet over New York City, making it Americas tallest building. It will be known as the Freedom Tower and will be the main office space of the new design. The second tower will be 1, 349 feet and will be composed of the Performing Arts Center topped off with an eighty foot antenna. The last three towers will all rise around 900 feet with restaurants, memorials, and more. Besides the Freedom Tower, the memorial for September 11^th will be the most significant of the project with two pools that will stand in place of where the twin towers use to be. It will have two waterfalls, which will soon be the two biggest man made waterfalls of all time. All 3,000 lives that were taken on the attacks will be engraved around the edges of the pool. This will recognize the lives lost from the trade centers, the pentagon, and the plane crashes. Any visitors of the memorial and museum will go through a series of experiences in order to get the full effect of the tragedy.

“The design strives to make visible of what is absent,” stated Micheal Arad, one of the architects on the project. He stresses the main goal of the new World Trade Center is the remembrance of the lives lost. Even though it has been over ten years, and with the recent passing away of Osama Bin Laden, fear is still a factor in terrorist attacks in New York City. The World Trade Center’s other main goal, because of this, is safety. Some of the primary safety precautions of the new site include; fireproofing, structural stability, chemical air filters, wider staircases for evacuating, safer elevators, three feet deep concrete walls for refugee in case of attack, and an extra staircase for fire fighters. The site developer, Larry Silivstein, states that it will be one of the biggest and most expensive projects that America has ever seen, with hopes of healing the agony the terrorists left on the United States. The project is estimated to cost over two billion dollars, using some of the most expensive materials and designers.

Ten years ago, the largest tragedy hit the United states and now, ten years later, the largest memorial will be built. The new World Trade Center project could never and will never replace the twin towers. Instead, it will keep the lives lost remembered and honored. Wars, attacks, and millions of lives lost have been working towards this goal for years. The Freedom Tower will become a new symbol for the United States just as Lady Liberty has become. The new tower represents our country’s ability to move forward and to overcome all evil.

Image Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/28722563@N05/

The article The New Freedom Tower Project in New York, Overcoming September 11th appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.