Pain, grief still raw 10 years after 9/11

Nearly a decade after losing her son Edward in the World Trade Center attacks, the pain is still raw and the grief constant for Doris Mardovich of Jericho.

"It has not gotten any easier," Mardovich said Wednesday night as she prepared for a 10th anniversary observance of the Sept. 11 tragedy at Eisenhower Park. "The week before the 11th, I start to fidget for no reason. I wish it felt better, but it doesn't."

Persevering through a persistent rain, victim's families, first responders and other Nassau County residents turned out at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre to grieve, share stories and shed a few more tears.

Some wore jackets bearing the names of lost relatives. Others carried photos of their sons or daughters. They waved American flags and stood proudly during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Fathers and mothers. Husbands and wives. Sisters and daughters. They read the names of each of the 349 Nassau residents who died on 9/11.

"Whether 10 years, 10 days or 10 minutes, to those that lost loved ones needlessly by a cowardly act, the pain is still as fresh as it was 10 years ago," said Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.

The pain was acute for the Nassau police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who responded to Ground Zero and attended the ceremony in uniform.

Tom Van Essen, who led the New York City Fire Department in the fall of 2001, said his department had never asked for help but the outpouring of support after 9/11 was so overwhelming that he had to turn people away.

"I learned about evil but also that we could not do it alone," Van Essen said.

Nassau County lost 18 volunteer firefighters in the attacks. Dozens of FDNY firefighters who grew up in Nassau died in the collapse of the towers, including Michael Kiefer, who served in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

"After 10 years, I feel exactly the same way as when it happened," said Michael's mother, Pat, of Franklin Square. "If anything, it gets worse because you miss them more."