I deeply value Orcas Fire and Rescue. The service these professionals and volunteers provide is unparalleled. I’ve taken the CPR and First Aid trainings, and I’m aware of how much we depend on the vital services provided by our local teams that give so much to our community. I attended the memorial at the fire station in Eastsound in honor of the firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks. It is most appropriate to honor those who choose a job that regularly puts them in harm’s way, and that particular day did so in an extraordinarily shocking and horrific way.

Living in New York City for 19 years, my personal experiences in and around the World Trade Center focused on music and peace. That morning, as I watched the towers fall, I thought, “Here we go.” As a climate change educator since 1999, I knew putting two oilmen in the White House was going to be bad for our country and the planet. I just didn’t know how bad.

My friend Tom lost his brother and sister-in-law who was seven months pregnant in the WTC attacks. I have friends who were impacted in other ways, too. As horrible as that day was, my concerns go beyond 9/11/01 to all those who have been maimed and killed in our names with our tax dollars, with 9/11 as the excuse. It’s important we keep in mind how many people have been killed in our names — hundreds of thousands, maybe over a million — in countries that posed no threat to us. It’s still going on today. We as U.S. citizens have been losing our civil liberties, our privacy and other protections, in the name of 9/11.

I am a supporter of “Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth” and the “Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 Inquiry.” I encourage everyone to watch the video of a press conference that took place in D.C. the morning of Sept. 11, online at https://www.ae911truth.org/get-involved/bobby-mcilvaine-act.

Sharon Abreu

Eastsound