September 2011 «

Archive for the ‘September 2011’ Category

September 16, 2011: Boston

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Today Ambassador Doer and I spoke at a breakfast meeting of the New England Council, where we had a chance to talk about Beyond the Border, Regulatory Cooperation, and other key issues.

Ambassador Jacobson and Ambassador Doer at the Hampshire House above the famous "Cheers" bar

The meeting took place at the Hampshire House which, those of you who are familiar with Boston know, is the restaurant upstairs of the famous bar where the television program Cheers was set. Unfortunately, the bar wasn’t open at 7:30 am when we arrived. So – instead of a beer – we had to settle for a photo.

Tags: Ambassador Doer, Ambassador Jacobson, Beyond the Border, Boston, Cheers, Massachusetts, New England Council, Regulatory Cooperation, U.S.-Canada relations
Posted in September 2011 |

September 12, 2011: St. John’s, Newfoundland

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Julie and I just finished a couple of very emotional days.

On Saturday afternoon we arrived in Gander to remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Our first stop was a dinner with a group of “plane people” who were returning to Gander for the event as well as some Gander citizens, a New York City firefighter, and a high school teacher from Long Island, NY who brought a group of his students with him to give pieces of steel from the World Trade Center to the people of Gander for their support and kindness 10 years ago.

Ambassador and Mrs. Jacobson with Elaine Caiazzo and Jennie Asmussen, friends from Bethpage, N.Y., who were on their way home from Germany on Sept. 11 when their flight was diverted to Gander. They returned to Gander for the 10th anniversary to say thank you.

Two particularly memorable moments occurred during dinner. At the next table were a couple who came over and introduced themselves. One was from England. The other from Texas. Turns out they had met in Gander on 9/11 and they are now married!! The other was a conversation with Kevin Tuerff who was there for the reunion with his wife. He is a successful businessman in Austin Texas. He was so moved by what happened to him in Gander that each year on 9/11 he gives each of his employees $100 and asks them to go out and use it for random acts of kindness and generosity for strangers. He also started a 10,000 Acts of Kindness campaign for the 10th anniversary. His company planned to donate $1, up to $10,000, to the Pay It Forward Foundation for each new foundation follower on Twitter @PIFFoundation from September 7 through September 11. He also encouraged people to describe their acts of kindness on the campaign’s Facebook page at facebook.com/PayItForward9.11

After the dinner we went to the Beyond Words Benefit Concert in Gander where we met Gander’s mayor Claude Elliott and many other plane people and local citizens.

On Sunday we had three events. The first was in Appleton, a town of about 900 people a few miles from Gander. One of the people who spoke had been diverted to Gander 10 years ago and liked it so much she had returned 21 times and has been given the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador for her efforts to build relationships. After the event I had a chance to visit with a group of young children who had made posters with the names of all of the victims at the World Trade Center.

In Newfoundland for 9/11 Anniversary

After a lunch with the citizens of Appleton we went to Gander for the main event of the day. The civic center was packed with plane people, citizenry, and dignitaries from across Canada. I gave my remarks — which you can read if you want here. All I can say is it was very emotional for both me and Julie. These are good people who did a great thing. They didn’t do it for recognition. But they deserve it nonetheless.

We then flew to St. John’s for an evening event at Memorial University where so many of the diverted plane people were housed. We were greeted by Memorial’s Chancellor, and Canadian hero, Gen. (Ret.) Rick Hillier, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador’s Lieutenant Governor John C. Crosbie. Among the things I saw while there were the twice daily newsletters the school put out to keep their surprise guests informed.

Speaking at reception at Memorial University in St. John's

Before I arrived I had assumed that the remembrance of the horrendous events of 9/11 would be a very sad and somber event. But in fact the emotion was much more complex. Of course we were saddened by the tragedies and the horrific loss of life. But there was something more afoot. We were celebrating the wonder of the human spirit. How people welcomed total strangers in their time of need. And how those strangers have tried to reciprocate.

I can’t tell you enough how glad we were to have shared the experience with them.

Tags: 9/11 anniversary, Appleton, Gander, Memorial University, Newfoundland
Posted in September 2011 |

September 2, 2011: Ottawa

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

This morning we had a very emotional dedication of an exhibit outside the Embassy here in Ottawa of photos that were taken after 9/11 showing the outpouring of support by the Canadian people toward their friends in the United States.

At that time, I was a lawyer in Chicago with no particular relationship with Canada. But I remember well learning of the warmth of the Canadian people during those dark days. Here in Ottawa at the Embassy when people placed flowers, notes, and candles against the Embassy wall. On Parliament Hill where 100,000 people gathered to show their support. In Gander, St. Johns, Halifax, Vancouver, and elsewhere where Canadians took in our planes and cared for our citizens when U.S. airspace was closed. In the individual acts of human kindnesses at a time when humanity was in short supply. For that and so much more, the American people will be eternally grateful.

What follows are the remarks I gave this morning as well as the photos which will remain in front of the Embassy for the next couple of weeks. They express my emotions – and I believe the emotions of most Americans – as we reflect on the events of 9/11 and the last 10 years.

Ambassador Jacobson’s Remarks at U.S. Embassy, Ottawa Ceremony to Unveil: “Thank you, Canada: A 9/11 Commemorative Photo Exhibit”
September 2, 1011

As prepared for delivery.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, as word spread, and as what at first seemed unthinkable and unimaginable turned into tragic fact, people began arriving outside the Embassy. Some came alone; others came with friends and family.

In the dark hours that followed the events on that bright September morning, there was nothing the people here in Ottawa could do. But all the same, so many found that they just couldn’t do nothing.

So they came. Theirs was a simple act, spontaneous and gracious.

Along the length of this building, along this historic street, Canadians placed bouquets of flowers. They left candles, red, white and blue balloons, stuffed animals, drawings by children and the heartfelt words of men and women inscribed on homemade cards – words of sorrow and elegy, words of support and of resolve.

On its own, each act was an intimate gesture of sympathy. Taken together, they became a powerful symbol of solidarity.

To walk past this display of compassion was to know that in our moment of tragedy, the citizens of the United States were not alone.

We’re sometimes defined by our differences: our different ideas and ideals, our different beliefs, different nationalities, and our different loves and passions. But in the hours and in the days that followed the 9/11 attacks, those differences somehow paled.

Suddenly we all stood together – across a common border – to confront evil and to share our humanity.

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be a time of solemn remembrance for the families who knew loss on that day: for the survivors, for those who toiled at rescue and recovery, and for the whole of my country, from whom a decade’s passage has done little to erase the shock and the horror of that morning.

But it will also be a time to commemorate the bonds we share with our friends and with those who stood with the people of the United States, a time to remind the world of our gratitude and how much those simple gestures meant. And a time to celebrate the spirit of resilience and defiance that was born at Ground Zero, which spread here to Sussex Drive, and then on around the world.

It was Emerson, that great American writer and philosopher, who said: “We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken.”

In the days that followed Sept 11th, 2001, the kindness of Canadians was heard as loud as any, as loud as ever.

We value our friendship not only with Canada but with you, the Canadian people. We honor that friendship with this exhibition. It’s our own simple gesture to those who walked alongside us as we made our way through the dark.

Thank you.