Day Seven, August 17, 2011, of my ongoing tribute – it hardly seems that seven days have gone by, since I began this. Today, we will go worldwide and pay tribute to citizens from other nations, those citizens killed on that fateful day of 9/11/2001.

New York Magazine gave the stat that 115 nations lost citizens. I have seen other numbers ranging from the eighties to the nineties. Whatever the exact number, many nations, stretching from the Caribbean to Africa, were affected by the murders on that September day. These nations ranged from the proverbial A to Z, with the letter U – for USA, losing the most, as was the intention of the thieves of lives. One report stated that many nations are still not sure how many of their citizens were lost on that day. This September 11 News site provides stats, a map, and photos.

This Australian Herald Sun article of September 11, 2007, recounts that 10 Australians were killed, and half of those still do not have their remains identified. I hope that by now these families have been afforded some type of resolution.  The photo of Andrew Knox shows a  young man, with a beaming smile as if he had the world at his feet, yet with a laid back demeanor. He did not have to be told to say “cheese,” in order to produce that smile.

Christian Adams hailed from Germany and was on a wine tasting trip to the US. How could one not like a man about whom it was written:

"For all of us that are involved in this work, it's more of a family than a job. And Christian was the hub. He was the center of this," Sullivan said. "I will always remember his thoughtful counsel and dedication and hard work and easy-going manner and wonderful sense of humor, that just made working with him an absolute pleasure."

This is a rare tribute for a boss man – many bosses lose touch as they climb the ladder.

Our neighbor to the north, Canada, lost 24 of its citizens, according to this CBC article. One of whom was  David Barkway, fun-loving, hard-working, golfing, husband and father – killed because he kept an appointment in a doomed building. I found from another site that his second child turned out to be a boy, named David Michael.

As I read through the article, I came across Christine and Michael Egan, sister and brother, wiped out in his office.  The US, Canada and the UK lost two persons described thus:

Michael and his wife, Anna, had two sons together, Matthew and Jonathan. Michael spent much of his time introducing his son Matthew, who has Down's syndrome, to various sports. His passion, Anna has said, "was to make Matthew as happy as he could be."

"She just had such a big heart," said Sharon Judd, a longtime friend. "My kids adored her because she was the type of person who'd get right down on the floor and play with them and get mucky."

Actually children, especially those of Mr. Egan, lost a parent and friends. Not many adults care to get “mucky” playing with children, who are not their own.

Anthony Richard Dawson was from the UK. There is not much information on him, not even a tribute from a family or friend. Wait. I found this site, 9-11 Heroes, with tributes to a bright young man, “in the right place (for a meeting), but at the wrong time.” He shares that with many.

China's Yuguang Zheng and Shuyin , husband and wife, at least died together. I know that is no consolation to their loved ones, but I am reaching for something, something positive, as positive as one can find in such a death.

Sanai Mori of Japan was a mere 27 years old, but had already been educated in the Netherlands,  England, and ended up at the World Trade Center. Her photo shows a smiling young woman who appeared happy and joyful.

 David Tengelin was called “Swede” to indicate his country of birth, but from the tribute written to him, he was a New Yorker.  His friend poignantly described him:

"He asked very little out of life, yet took as much as he possibly could," Mr. Peck said.

“Diversity” is a word that is overused and abused, in my opinion, but in the case of these folks, they were diverse, and yet had in common, their zest for life and their "every man" quality. I felt as if I could have easily been friends with any of them, regardless of age, background or language. Their stories, with as much commonality as diversity, shows that variations of skin color, variations of language, variations of culture notwithstanding, we are united by that inner being, our wants, our desires, our character, our capacity for love. Their loss affects us all.

The hymn He's Got the Whole World (in His hands), came to mind as I was writing this article. Many folks complained after the events of 9/11 about God not stopping the slaughter. I have often quipped that He was busy looking after the rest of us. We cannot have it both ways. Do we want a God who meddles and therefore creates us to be robots? No we don’t – at least not the majority of us. God gave us free will. We can choose to do good, or choose to do evil. The murderers chose evil. They will have to answer to Him – not to 72 virgins.

May God bless America, and indeed all of the other nations of this world.