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Americans'
way of life tested
by
Kim Tiefenthaler
Landmark reporter
As
Platte County residents and people across the United States
tried to settle back into their normal daily routines
on Monday, many were faced with the inner struggle of
the mind, emotions and spirit of last Tuesday's terrorist
attacks.
Ever since Sept. 11, United States citizens have been
devastated by the unthinkable acts of terrorism that struck
inside the nation's borders, leaving a lead footprint
of the attack imbedded in everyone's mind.
On Sunday, President George W. Bush urged Americans to
try to get back to a normal routine by heading back to
work and school on Monday.
With President Bush's reassurance that the people who
caused this tragic event "would hear all of us soon,"
children, parents and government officials returned to
work on Monday with the strong American will that surfaced
in everyone last Tuesday.
"I feel we need to take it a day at a time,"
said Betty Knight, presiding commissioner of Platte County,
on Monday. "Today's especially good for us because
we got back to work.
"There are people out there who are trying to destroy
the way we live," said Knight. "When we know
that threat is there, it's going to change our life and
the way we look at and handle situations. As much as possible
we need to get back to normal but with safety in mind."
Mike Barnes, postmaster in Platte City, said the United
States Post Office has seen a slowdown in mail due to
last week's tragic events, but is working to provide the
"neither rain, sleet nor snow" motto of the
postal service.
"The United States Postal Service is designed to
provide postal service, and we're still doing that,"
stated Barnes. "We're taking our role seriously and
how important it is at this time in our country."
To deal with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA)
decision to ban all flights transporting mail until further
notice, Barnes said the postal service has added more
ground transportation to expedite the mail as soon as
possible.
Besides adding more ground transportation in their efforts
to provide quality postal service, they are updating their
website twice a day to inform people of expected delays
in mail across the United States. The website address
for the postal service is: www.usps.com.
As the postal service rises to its obligation during
this strike on the U.S., children of the Platte County
R-3 School District aided in the effort by raising money
to send to the relief effort in New York, Washington D.C.
and Pennsylvania.
Siegrist Elementary School raised $909.76 on Friday to
be sent to the Red Cross, with the other schools collecting
throughout the rest of the week.
Rick Hunt, a seventh grader at Platte City Middle School,
summed up the attack with words many people have thought
over the past week.
"The people that did this are cowards. Why kill
people just because other people don't believe in the
same thing as others?" stated Hunt. "People
are losing too much for what others believe in."
Hunt continued, "This is the greatest thing we can
do. We're helping people right others wrongs."
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