A Look Back at 'Our Brightest Day' as Bin Laden News Hits

As the news swept of Osama Bin Laden’s , so did a renewed sense of patriotism.

It was everywhere, and Toms River was no different.

”Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama said in an address shortly after 11:30 p.m.

Celebrations immediately erupted around the nation, and patriotism swelled. But in two places in Toms River, that patriotism has been unwavering for years.

Toms River is home to at least two September 11 memorials.

The Ocean County 9/11 Memorial, just south of the Pedestrian Skywalk on Hooper Avenue, sits in front of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

“America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.” That quote, from President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, is etched into the memorial, as nearby spotlights shone on the American flag outside the county offices.

Just around the corner on Washington Street, the township pays tribute to Sept. 11 in its memorial, which sits outside town hall.

Etched there are the words of then-8th grader Samantha L. Ruocco, Toms River, whose poem “Our Brightest Day” forever became part of the township’s memorial, erected in Sept. 2002.

The poem:

They want us to remember tons

Of dust and twisted steel.

They think they can destroy us,

That we will never heal.

They want our world to crumble

And say that it’s “God’s plan.”

But it’s God’s love that unites us,

Each and every man.

Their evil has attacked us all

And filled our hearts with fear.

So now we must recover and

Grow stronger with each tear.

We must pray to God for guidance,

To show us all the way.

Our faith will turn this time of

Darkness into our brightest day!