Stamford Finds Relief, Reflection with Bin Laden's Death [Video]

Osama Bin Laden’s death is welcome and even overdue news, offers some sense of relief and security, and should serve as motivation to bring U.S. troops home, area residents in Stamford said Monday morning.

“A lot of families can put their memories to rest and be happier that it’s over,” Jessica Burick, 32, a Greenwich resident and receptionist, said as she picked up her morning coffee at Dunkin Donuts on Atlantic Street with Stamford resident Irvin Spears, 52 (see video).

Forty miles north of Ground Zero, in a city with strong ties to Manhattan among commuters, relatives of New Yorkers and natives of the Big Apple, President Obama’s televised announcement that bin Laden died as a result of a U.S. operation in Pakistan is reverberating.

Spears, a mechanic, said he was in the area of Times Square when the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks took place.

“Everybody was going crazy,” Spears recalled. “I’m very sorry that it happened.”

Bin Laden reportedly died following a U.S. operation launched in Abbottabad, Pakistan, against a compound where he was believed to be hiding, the Huffington Post reports. Obama said that after a firefight, American forces killed bin Laden and took his body.

“Tonight I can report to the American people and the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden,” Obama told the nation from the White House.

For Kim Gibson, 53, a substance abuse counselor in Fairfield, the news is oversue and Bin Laden deserved what he got.

“To get our troops home—that should be the first reaction of every American. To get our troops home,” Gibson said.

What follows is a list of Connecticut residents who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including those from Fairfield County.

Braginsky, Alexander - 38 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Cherry, Stephen Patrick - 41 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Cloud, Geoffrey W. - 36 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Connors, Kevin P. - 55 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Coppo Jr., Joseph J. - 47 - New Canaan, CT - Dec WTC
Curioli, Paul Dario - 53 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Eagleson, John Bruce - 53 - Middlefield, CT - Dec WTC
Fergus Jr., Edward T. - 40 - Wilton, CT - Dec WTC
Fiorito, John - 40 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Fisher, Bennett Lawson - 58 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Fry, Peter Christian - 36 - Wilton, CT - Dec WTC
Gabrielle, Richard S. - 50 - West Haven, CT - Dec WTC
Gardner, Christopher - 36 - Darien, CT - Dec WTC
Gerlich, Robert J. - 56 - Monroe, CT - Dec WTC
Gilligan, Ronald - 43 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Glick, Steven Lawrence - 42 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Gopu, Kiran Reddy - 24 - Bridgeport, CT - Dec WTC
Graff III, Edwin J. - 48 - Rowayton, CT - Dec WTC
Greene, Donald F. - 52 - Greenwich, CT - Un 93
Halvorson, James D. - 56 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Heller, Howard Joseph - 37 - Ridgefield, CT - Dec WTC
Higley II, Robert - 29 - New Fairfield, CT - Dec WTC
Hobin, James L. - 47 - Marlborough, CT - Dec WTC
Hofmiller, Judith Florence - 53 - Brookfield, CT - Dec WTC
Hughes, Paul - 38 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Hunt, William C. - 32 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Hynes, Thomas E. - 28 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Iskyan, John F. - 41 - Wilton, CT - Dec WTC
Jacobs, Michael Grady - 54 - Danbury, CT - Dec WTC
Keane, Richard M. - 54 - Wethersfield, CT - Dec WTC
King, Amy R. - 29 - Stafford Springs, CT - Un 175
LaMantia, Steven - 38 - Darien, CT - Dec WTC
Lenihan, Joseph A. - 41 - Cos Cob, CT - Dec WTC
Lewis, Adam J. - 36 - Fairfield, CT - Dec WTC
Lozier, Garry - 47 - Darien, CT - Dec WTC
Maloney, Edward Francis "Teddy" - 32 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
McCarthy, Kevin - 42 - Fairfield, CT - Dec WTC
McCourt, Juliana Valentine - 4 - New London, CT - Un 175
McCourt, Ruth Magdaline - 45 - New London, CT - Un 175
McEneaney, Eamon J. - 46 - New Canaan, CT - Dec WTC
Meehan, William J. - 49 - Darien, CT - Dec WTC
Metz III, Raymond J. - 37 - Trumbull, CT - Dec WTC
Monyak, Cheryl Ann - 43 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Murphy, Christopher William White - 35 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Noonan, Robert Walter - 36 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Orloske, Margaret Q. - 50 - Windsor, CT - Dec WTC
Patrick, James Matthew - 30 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Pelletier, Michel Adrian - 36 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Piver, Josh - 42 - Stonington, CT - Dec WTC
Ramm-Ericson, Ulf - 79 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Rooney, Sean - 50 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Rothberg, Michael Craig - 39 - Old Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Schwartz, John Burkhart - 49 - Goshen, CT - Dec WTC
Scott, Randolph - 48 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Spencer III, George E. - 50 - West Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Statkevicus, Derek James - 30 - Norwalk, CT - Dec WTC
Tarrou, Michael C. - 38 - Stafford Springs, CT - Un 175
Theurkauf Jr., Thomas F. - 44 - Stamford, CT - Dec WTC
Uman, Jonathan J. - 33 - Westport, CT - Dec WTC
Varacchi, Frederick T. - 35 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Williams, Candace Lee - 20 - Danbury, CT - Am 11
Wohlforth, Martin P. - 47 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC
Works, John Bentley - 36 - Darien, CT - Dec WTC
York, Edward Phillip - 45 - Wilton, CT - Dec WTC
Zion, Charles A. - 54 - Greenwich, CT - Dec WTC