Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez

["Ingold, John" <JIngold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez

To whom it may concern:

My name is John Ingold and I am a reporter with The Denver Post. As I'm sure you know, we are trying to find local angles and local stories to tell out of the recent national tragedy. I personally feel it is important to put a human face on the numbers so that people here can get a true sense of the significance of what has happened.

I received the message below on Friday and am interested in learning more about what connection, if any, Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez have to Colorado. I can't seem to find any record of them here. I'm writing to you because this contact address was listed at the bottom of the e-mail I received.

So, if you know how I can reach the Rodriguezes or can help me in any other way, I would greatly appreciate it. And if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, then I'm sorry to bother you.

Take care,

John Ingold
metro reporter, The Denver Post
303-820-1282

-----Original Message-----

COLORADO PARENTS WITH MISSING SON
Not in our son's name
(letter of parents of son missing at World Trade Center)

Saturday, Sep 15, 2001 8:35pm

[Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez's son Greg is one of the
Trade Center victims.They have asked that people share
these letters this copy of letter sent to NY Times as
widely as possible.]

Not in Our Son's Name

Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World
Trade Center attack. Since we first heard the news, we
have shared moments of grief, comfort, hope, despair,
fond memories with his wife, the two families, our
friends and neighbors, his loving colleagues at Cantor
Fitzgerald / ESpeed, and all the grieving families that
daily meet at the Pierre Hotel.

We see our hurt and anger reflected among everybody we
meet. We cannot pay attention to the daily flow of news
about this disaster. But we read enough of the news to
sense that our government is heading in the direction
of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons,
daughters, parents, friends in distant lands dying,
suffering, and nursing further grievances against us.
It is not the way to go. It will not avenge our son's
death. Not in our son's name.

Our son died a victim of an inhuman ideology. Our
actions should not serve the same purpose. Let us
grieve. Let us reflect and pray. Let us think about a
rational response that brings real peace and justice to
our world. But let us not as a nation add to the
inhumanity of our times.

Copy of letter to White House:

Dear President Bush:

Our son is one of the victims of Tuesday's attack on
the World Trade Center. We read about your response in
the last few days and about the resolutions from both
Houses, giving you undefined power to respond to the
terror attacks.

Your response to this attack does not make us feel
better about our son's death. It makes us feel worse.
It makes us feel that our government is using our son's
memory as a justification to cause suffering for other
sons and parents in other lands.

It is not the first time that a person in your position
has been given unlimited power and came to regret it.
This is not the time for empty gestures to make us feel
better. It is not the time to act like bullies. We urge
you to think about how our governement can develop
peaceful, rational solutions to terrorism, solutions
that do not sink us to the inhuman level of terrorists.

Sincerely,

Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez

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