Schiller Institute Annual Tear Drop Memorial In Honor of The Alexandrov Ensemble 2019
Channel: Joe Friendly
Date: 2020-01-07

Third annual memorial December 28, 2019 in honor of the Alexandrov Ensemble, at the Tear Drop 9/11 memorial statue and park in Bayonne, New Jersey.  In 2016, 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, along with 24 others, perished when their plane crashed into the Black Sea en route to Syria.  Moderating, Capt. Donald Haiber, prayers by Father John Fencik, speaking: Chief Keith Weaver, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations Mr. Dmitry Chumakov,  Deputy Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic Mission. Dr. Louay Falouh, Diane Sare, and singing, Kevin Maynor. 

The Teardrop Memorial was given as a gift in remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy by Russia. The story of its creation is presented at http://www.911monument.com.

A ceremonial Groundbreaking for the monument, To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, was held on September 16, 2005. The keynote speaker was Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, who noted that Russia also had experienced the grief of terrorism. Speaking at the site where the Monument would be installed, with the Statue of Liberty in clear view behind him, President Putin said, "...Four years ago, the terrorists intended to plunge America and the civilized world into chaos, but they have failed. On the contrary, mankind united. We have made an efficient international anti-terrorist coalition. I fully agree with Mr. Mayor. We defeated Nazism and together we will win a victory over terrorism. This monument, in memory of victims of the September 11th attacks, will serve as a symbol of Russian American unity against world terrorism. . .  We should never forget that for all their impressive and grandiose nature, such monuments represent concrete individuals, people who will always live on, not only in stone, not only in monuments, but in our hearts. . ."
President Bill Clinton was keynote speaker at the dedication of the completed monument September 11, 2006.