Six Years After Sept. 11, a Town Mourns

Middletown, N.J., remains committed to remembering 37 residents killed on 9/11.

ByABC News
September 10, 2007, 4:18 PM

MIDDLETOWN, N.J., Sept. 11, 2007 — -- Many of this town's 37 residents who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 started their morning here at the Middletown train station.

Today, just steps from where they would have awaited their trains to work, their relatives, friends and neighbors will gather at a memorial garden built in their honor, to read their names and remember their lives.

Middletown, N.J., which calls itself the "biggest small town in New Jersey," lost 37 people on Sept. 11, more victims per capita than any other place in the state and the second hardest hit city after New York.

The town, an hour outside of New York City, became the focus of media attention in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Its iconic name and heavy losses made it the center of numerous articles and a book.

Outside of Middletown, some have questioned the usefulness of routinely eulogizing the dead every Sept. 11. The New York Times published a front-page article last Sunday entitled, "As 9/11 Draws Near, a Debate Rises: How Much Tribute Is Enough?"

But here, there is no such debate. Many people in town have petitioned their politicians to make Sept. 11 a national day of mourning. Ceremonies, at which the names of all the town's victims are read, were held over the weekend and will be held Tuesday, Sept. 11.

While a memorial has yet to be erected at ground zero, Middletown has built two memorials to commemorate its dead. Another county memorial is located just a few miles away in West Orange.

"The town is hugely patriotic," Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger told ABCNEWS.com.

That patriotism, combined with a sense of personal loss, has led the residents to memorialize their neighbors in an unprecedented way.

"I haven't heard one iota suggesting we not acknowledge the anniversary, or anyone saying it's time to move on," Scharfenberger told ABCNEWS.com.

"If anybody would question the enormity of our loss, I'd urge them to walk through our memorial garden. Anyone sick of hearing about it needs a wake-up call. For the relatives, friends and neighbors of the victims, 9/11 is still very much alive. Every time you meet someone new in town, through them you become connected to another victim," he said.