NEWSWEEK COVER: 'Two Years After 9/11: New Heroes, New Victims'

		NEWSWEEK The cover story in the September 15 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday September 8) focuses on the second anniversary of 9/11 and includes a moving tribute to the Americans who have died in the war on terror. Plus, an essay on the importance of service by Sen. John McCain, the state of homeland security, the future of Islam, a look at Howard Dean's campaign machine and a report on the "housing trap" facing many homebuyers. (PRNewsFoto)[KO] NEW YORK, NY USA

Since 9/11 Front Lines in War on Terror Have Spread Across the Globe, Casualties Range From Seasoned Combat Troops to Civilians 'A Lot of People Say, We Won't Forget, We Won't Forget. Then Six Months Later They Do,' Says War Widow NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In the two years since the attacks of 9/11 the front lines have spread over much of the globe, and the casualties have ranged from seasoned combat troops to rear-echelon reservists, U.N. relief workers, students traveling abroad and children on buses, reports Senior Editor Jerry Adler in the September 15 issue of Newsweek (on Newsstands Monday, September 8). (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030907/NYSU003 ) Among them, they have left behind thousands of grieving spouses, children and parents, whose very existence raises the question of what society owes to the victims of this shadowy and protracted war -- and about the wisdom guiding the course of the struggle. As a symbol of the cause in which her husband Phil, a sergeant from Fort Campbell, Ky., died, Laura Svitak has hung prints of the World Trade Center before and after the attack, "the event that changed our lives." The pictures of the Twin Towers are also a reminder that if Phil had been killed aboard a hijacked jetliner instead of a Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan, she would have been eligible for $1 million or more from the federal fund set up specifically for 9/11 victims. "I do feel somewhat forgotten," she says. "People donate money to help victims, and I'm one of those victims." "Whatever we do for American citizens generally, we should do at least that well for [families] of American servicemen," says James P. Sterba, a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame and editor of "Terrorism and International Justice." As a practical matter, it will be hard to recruit people to the military if they don't think their families will be taken care of; philosophically, civilians and military personnel alike are affected by American policy, he says, and therefore "we have a collective responsibility for all of them." Jennifer McCollum, a San Diego hospital worker, was 15 weeks pregnant when her husband Dan was killed in a KC-130 tanker crash in Pakistan in January 2002. Now the baby who was conceived just ten weeks before Dan's deployment is 15 months old, and the first thing he sees when he wakes up is a large picture of his father above his crib. "He said 'Daddy' before he said 'Mommy,' Jennifer says. "I guess it's because I was pointing at the picture and saying 'Daddy,' but there was nobody here pointing at me and saying Mommy." McCollum is now moving to Florida. Her mortgage, $1,775 a month, was just covered by Dan's housing allowance, which ended six months after his death; now Jennifer gets by on monthly benefits of $1,400. On the fate of war widows, McCollum says "a lot of people say, we won't forget, we won't forget. Then six months later, they do." No one, least of all a military parent or wife, wants to believe that a loved one died in vain, and survivors take a somber pride in their sacrifice. "We've come across a few who are diametrically opposed to the president's war, but even they have this feeling of, 'This is America and we're proud of what our daughter did for her country,'" says Brian Bauman, head of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a privately funded organization of military families. More outspoken is John Adams, whose son, Lt. Thomas Adams, was the first Navy officer to die in the war in Iraq. "I'm not at all happy with what our leaders are doing over there," he says. "There has to be a paradigm shift among our leaders, or else it's going to be a real mess." (Read Newsweek's news releases at http://www.Newsweek.MSNBC.com. Click "Pressroom.")