Madison 9/11 1st Responder: Bin Laden Death Gives a Sense of Closure

The news of Osama Bin Laden's death spread rapidly across New Jersey on Sunday evening, despite the late hour.

Reaction was swift and almost universal: Exultation that one of the United States' most elusive foes was dead, and dead as a result of U.S. action.

"They got the SOB, " said Madison Fire Chief Lou DeRosa, who spent nine days searching the rubbler of Ground Zero immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. "It's poetic justice. The difference is, he had a moment to know the end was coming, unlike the 3,000 people who died that didn't. But this gives some sense of closure for their loved ones, something they didn't have for a long time."

"It's great that he's out of the picture," said Ptl. Sean Plumstead, who also worked at Ground Zero. "Closure? I hope so. But as far as security, we'll always be on alert.  There will always be somebody to fill his shoes."

"It is stunning justice after 10 years, and some small solace to the 9/11 surviving family members," Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden said. "However, we need to temper any victory by being more vigilant than ever as Bin Laden's followers will surely retaliate."

Madison council member Don Links, a veteran of the Air Force, said, "When attacked, the U.S. will never rest until those people are brought to justice. I'm sure that the federal government has taken into account the possible increased threat to our country from Bin Laden followers and I also believe that we as citizens must always keep our eyes and ears open to possible threats.

"The U.S. government has never in its history made decisions based on the possible retaliation from either foreign governments or terrorists and this case was no different," Links said. "I believe the federal, state, county and borough security officials will continue to make every attempt to keep our citizens safe as they have since 9/11. There is no justice when lives are lost in any war, the victims of 9/11 and the service men and women who have lost their lives defending our country, I hope, will rest easier today, in addition to all their familes."

Six Madison residents perished in the Sept. 11 attacks: James Leslie Crawford Jr., Timothy Robert Hughes, Patrick J. McGuire, Donald A. Peterson and his wife, Jean H. Peterson, and Peter M. West.

The Petersons were aboard United Flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., after passengers fought to overpower hijackers at the controls of the aircraft.

In an extraordinary address, President Obama interrupted almost every U.S. TV channel to announce the news.

He said that the United States has been tracking bin Laden for months and finally located him in a residence in Pakistan. After a firefight, the president said, Bin Laden was killed, with no loss of U.S. lives.

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