Grief Leads 9/11 Families in Opposite Directions

(CBS)  For the families of September 11 victims, every anniversary brings pain. But this year, the politically charged fight over the proposed site of an Islamic cultural center and mosque is bringing new heartache - and division, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.

Jim Riches and Donna Marsh O'Connor share a terrible bond. Riches, a retired New York City firefighter, lost his son Jimmy, also a firefighter, in the 2001 attacks.

"We carried his body out March 25, 2002," said Riches. "We go back there to the same spot where he breathed his last breath."

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Donna Marsh O'Connor understands that anguish. Her daughter, Vanessa, was 4 months pregnant when she was killed in the attacks.

"I honor 9/11 families and their pain," said Marsh O'Connor. "I feel it all the time."

But their grief has taken them in opposite directions. After attending the commemoration service at ground zero, Riches plans to speak at a rally two blocks away, to protest the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque.

"I feel that my son can speak for himself and that I have to speak out for him, and that it's coming too close," said Riches. "We have to let America know and everyone know peacefully in the right way that we would like the mosque moved somewhere else."

But Donna Marsh O'Connor plans to stay home. Though she supports others' right to demonstrate. She believes moving the Islamic center would strike a major blow to religious tolerance in the U.S.

"I don't want to live in an Islamphobic America," said Marsh O'Connor. "I am not afraid of my neighbor and I don't want to be afraid of my neighbors and you are harming my children by making America more hateful than it is compassionate."

[notparicular]

People for ages substituted resistance and anger by forgiveness, in the hope that forgiveness ultimately wins. Most forgiveness, however, is mere passivity. While I respectfully understand the grief of Donna Marsh (I too lost a son), I applaud the determined resistance of Jim Riches against building the unjust Victory Mosque near Ground Zero.

[slappy-jones]

What do the builders have to do with terrorism?

These are your fellow American citizens.

[john5434]

@slappy-jones

Ted Bundy was also an American citizen...

As far as what the builders have to do with terrorism, you can find answers at thereligionofpeace_com:

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

[Phxfire]

First Amendment rights, not just for Christian or Jewish houses of worship. We do more harm and provide more propaganda fodder for Al Queda, etal, by being intolerent and short-sighted. Would you condone the call to not build a Church or Temple in Palestine? We need to show the way, be less hostile and by doing so those of you so angry and militant can see it as a good thumb-your-nose at the militant Muslims who would use the opposition to the Cultural Center for their own, twisted purposes. Perhaps it is more fitting to build close to Ground Zero, it shows the world that we are better and more forgiving than any fundamentalists. I am retired from Phx Fire, we were one of the first to deploy, we have guys still suffering from the air and ground contaminants, yet I see so much positive to some out of letting the matter drop and discontinuing opposition and attention.

[mawmawpurple]

Thank you.