The day 11 years ago that the world “stood still, even in Tunica, MS,” 2700 people perished and two towers came crashing down to earth in New York City, has come full circle for Patriot Day keynote speaker Steve Sosebee.
In the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist strike on American soil, the Tunica businessman and volunteer firefighter, now assistant chief, connected emotionally with a fellow firefighter – Carl Bini of Staten Island and Fire Company No. 5 – who died when the towers disintegrated. In late 2001, Sosebee put up a flagpole at his business, Tunica Welding, and flew the U.S. flag until year’s end. Then he packed the flag, a Tunica Times newspaper containing Sosebee’s story and a letter and mailed it off to a Staten Island reporter, who agreed to get the package to Bini’s widow. Soon Christine Bini knew that people as far away as Mississippi shared her loss.

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