NSW: Tributes from Sydney sent to New York

AAP General News (Australia)
12-06-2001
NSW: Tributes from Sydney sent to New York

By Roz King

SYDNEY, Dec 6 AAP - A CD of spoken tributes by Australians to Americans affected by
the September 11 terrorist attacks will be sent off to the United States, the US embassy
said today.

A spokesman for US Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer said that while some flags,
cards and tributes had already been sent, this week the embassy would also send off the
CD of spoken tributes.

The tributes were compiled from 10,000 telephone calls made to a special hotline set
up by the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters after the attacks.

"We are in the process of identifying institutions and places that we can send these
things back to in the US, including schools that have been identified by President (George
W) Bush that were attended by children whose parents were killed in the (World) Trade
Centre and the Pentagon," the spokesman said.

"Some are going to New York to the firefighters and the police especially," he said.

US Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer said today that there had been an "extraordinary"

outpouring of sympathy from Australians.

Hundreds of flags, cards and tributes were placed outside the US consulate in Sydney
following the attacks.

"I went down and talked to people (at the consulate). They would begin to try to talk
and they literally could not get the words out. They would just break down," Mr Schieffer
told a business conference in Sydney.

"It was an enormous emotional experience not only for Americans but for Australians,
and the American people are very appreciative of the fact that Australia stood with us."

AAP rk/hn/apm/sb

KEYWORD: TERROR AUST TRIBUTES

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