“He only wished to have a few more children…”
Project 2996 came to my attention almost a month ago, thanks to a timely e-mail from my friend Katie Favazza. Everyone who signed up was assigned a name — one of the people murdered by Islamic butchers on September 11, 2001 — and asked to write a tribute about that person. I joined and was assigned the name Kui Fai Kwok.
I knew nothing about Mr. Kwok and Google wasn’t a great deal of help. Most of the tributes already posted simply gave his name and age and a couple of them mentioned where he worked. Kwok, who went by the nickname of Raymond was 31 years old and did computer and network support for Cantor Fitzgerald. He graduated from Stony Brook University in 1994 with a B.A. in Economics.
Kwok was a decent man, married and the father of a 9 month-old little girl, and thoroughly devoted to his family. He had bought a three-bedroom condo in Flushing, NY just before his daughter was born so he could move his elderly parents, who had emigrated to the United States 20 years before, out of their apartment in the city. He had embraced the United States, naming his daughter Karen. According to his wife, Kwok “was very content” with his life.
Raymond was, by every piece of information on him I could find, a perfectly ordinary American success story. He was the son of immigrants who went to college and landed a good job at a good company. He had a loving wife, a new daughter, was taking care of his parents, and was living the American dream. His biggest wish, his wife said, was to have more children.
That all ended, though when the Islamists brutally and happily murdered him. Kui Fai “Raymond” Kwok was not a soldier and he had nothing to do with the complaints of Osama bin Laden and his bloodthirsty comrades. He was just an ordinary American, but that was more than enough to earn the Islamists’ undying hatred.
And so, on a bright sunny day in September, 2001, they killed Raymond Kwok. We don’t know how it happened, though there were plenty of ways it could have. Perhaps he burned to death, or suffocated in the smoke, or was pulverised as his building collapsed, or perhaps he was one of the few who chose to leap to their death rather than die some other way. What we do know is that he was the victim of a war that was being waged against us long before 9/11 and is being waged against us still.
I think it would be a very fine thing if we gave young Karen Kwok a world without the threat of Islamism. It will take more resolve than we’ve ever mustered before and a long memory, but it can be done. All we have to do is to refuse that evil every place it pops up its repulsive head. We can do that. We must do that.
UPDATE: More remembrances:
The Anchoress remembers the entire day and sends us out to others who remember, too.
Obi’s Sister remembers Claude Michael Gann.
Alicia remembers Christopher Paul Slattery.
Girl on th e Right remembers Edward Francis “Teddy” Maloney III and Kenneth William Basnicki.
Sean Linnane passes on a first-hand account from his friend and fellow solders who lived through the attack in Manhattan (He was close enough to both towers to nearly touch them when they fell) and spent the day helping the survivors (Part II here, Part III here — via Blackfive).
Other Posts of Interest:
- Kick Islamist Heinie from Pillar to Post? Win Hearts and Minds? Yes, We Can!
- Foiled Clinton Murder Plot Shows that Islamists Aren’t Impressed with Who We Elected President
- Yep, George Bush Got It Right Again
Category: Fighting the Islamists
May you rest in peace, Kui Fai Kwok.
My own father died on September 11, although it was many years before 2001. I remember getting up that morning, feeling blue as I usually did on September 11, and turning on the television to see the footage of the first tower get hit. I continued watching the entire day, saddened by the loss of my own father and agonized by the fact that now thousands of other families, indeed our entire nation, would be forced to share my sadness on this day forever.
Like little Karen Kwok, my father died before I was old enough to remember him, and my heart goes out to her because I know how much she misses him and will continue to miss him for the rest of her life. I think it would be wonderful to be able to give Karen and every other child in the world a life free of fear from these terrorists that preach only destruction and death and who would gladly tear down every freedom others have worked so hard to obtain.
Again, rest in peace, Mr. Kwok. You will not be forgotten.
I honor Christopher Paul Slattery.
[...] writing: Gerald Vanderleun: The Missing Jimmie Bise Jr: He wished to have a few more children Melissa Clouthier: “I’m still angry” Bookworm: Never Forget Chris Muir Allah on [...]
Jimmie, I'm so happy you signed up to do this–and to have learned about Mr. Kwok. His family members are in my prayers today.
[...] Michelle remembers John Chada. Fausta remembers Joe Angelini, Jr. Jimmie remembers Kui Fai Kwok. [...]
[...] emotions. Deacon Greg: On this Day Uncle Jimbo: First Hand Account from the Towers Jimmie Bise Jr: He wished to have a few more children Melissa Clouthier: “I’m still angry” Bookworm: Never Forget Chris Muir Spirit of America: [...]
[...] Jimmie Bise, from The Sundries Shack: [...]
Well, this is a time when violence is needed to get rid of it.
Wouldn't it be grand if a group like Inglorious Basterds decided to hunt Muslims down like a pack of dogs looking for wild pigs, and branded those SOB's?
"he was the victim of a war that was being waged against us"
How sad; how true.
Fai Kwok was a number – the death of a digit celebrated by evil people.
We cannot replace the father that Karen Kwok last that fateful day but we can believe in a world without "the threat of Islamism" and, you're right, we must resolve to snuff out evil where it grows – and we must never forget.
Thank you for taking the time to write, to remember and to share, Jimmie.
Heather~
[...] you’d probably never heard beforfe that day. I’d much rather you hear the memories of a good man like Kui Fai Kwok but you can’t because he was murdered that day by a bunch of single-minded killers who our [...]
[...] Grandparents Day, so we can see just how much the world changed for him.Project 2996 remembrances: Kui Fai Kwok, son of immigrants who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald; Robin Kaplan, mother and passenger aboard [...]