Las Vegas Tribute to Sept. 11
DESIREE HUNTER
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The words are written in white on a navy blue cotton T-shirt bleached gray by the desert sun.
But they are still visible to the thousands who walk past the New York-New York hotel-casino:
``ALL GAVE SOME - SOME GAVE ALL.''
The shirt is among hundreds that line the fence bordering the hotel's facade - a miniature harbor with a 150-foot replica of Lady Liberty and the New York City skyline - forming a memorial that sprang up hours after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
``People kind of related to the whole New York skyline theme,'' Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. ``Someone just left a shirt there and, literally, there are now things from all over the world.''
The World Trade Center was never part of the hotel's skyline, which is supposed to represent the Big Apple of the 1940s. With fire department patches, origami paper cranes and the same spirit of remembrance, the impromptu tribute resembles those near ground zero.
``In the aftermath of the attacks - that same day - photographs, poems, candles started appearing in front of the fence,'' said Felix Rappaport, president and chief operating officer for the New York-New York hotel.
``Very quickly that expanded to a number of T-shirts, many of which came from fire companies. We now have T-shirts that represent fire departments from all over the country as a kind of symbol of solidarity,'' he said.
Rappaport said the hotel has received more than 2,500 shirts and still gets dozens each week, either by mail or when people hang them on the fence.
In some places, the shirts run more than a dozen layers deep.
Jon Smithey, an emergency medical technician from the San Francisco Bay area, walked along the fence videotaping while in Las Vegas celebrating his one-year wedding anniversary with his wife Vanessa.
``It makes you feel more appreciated. Oftentimes when we see people they're not at their best and very seldom do we hear, 'thank you,''' he said.
Tucked among the shirts is a child's crayon drawing showing the twin towers engulfed in red smoke, and stick people saying, ``AAAAHHHHHH.'' Across the top is written: ``Thank you for trying to save all of the people.''
Some notes and written pieces have been weathered to seemingly blank pieces of paper. The University of Nevada at Las Vegas has collected most of the written items to preserve them, Rappaport said.
Though some messages have been lost, the sentiment is clear, said Jackie Materek of Parisppany, N.J., who visited the memorial with her husband Tony.
``It makes me feel like the whole country is together,'' she said. ``We live 40 miles out of New York and to be across the country and see this ... it really means a lot.''
The hotel will begin construction of a permanent memorial at the feet of Lady Liberty in October. It's scheduled to be finished by late December.
Shadow boxes encased in granite will contain some of the artifacts left by visitors; other items will be archived and stored in UNLV's Special Collections Department.
``People have laid in our lap the responsibility of caring for this stuff and we're honored,'' Rappaport said. ``It's a very, very, heartfelt memorial.''
| 
