WASHINGTON, May 3, 2011 – When Wendy Duffman first heard
that Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida's leader and the mastermind
behind 9/11, was dead, she felt a sense of elation, then
relief.
Her brother, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Scott Eric
Duffman, died four years ago in a helicopter crash in
Afghanistan -- a war launched in the wake of the deadly
terrorist attacks. And as an American Airlines flight
attendant in 2001, she lost friends and colleagues on the
planes that crashed into the Pentagon and Twin Towers, and
onto a field in Pennsylvania.
“I woke up for the
first time in four years feeling like my brother didn't die
in vain,” Duffman said.
The news of bin Laden's death
May 1 set off an emotional chain reaction across the nation.
As the president prepared to brief the nation, hundreds of
people gathered in front of the White House to celebrate the
news and display their patriotism, waving American flags and
singing the national anthem. Since then, social media
networks have lit up with celebratory comments.
The
reaction has been somewhat more subdued among surviving
family members who lost a loved one on 9/11 or in the
subsequent and related wars.
While elated at bin
Laden's death, Duffman said, she feels it's a “small
victory.”
“I don't want people to forget there are
others like bin Laden,” she said. “The war isn't over. We
still have troops in harm's way.”
Many survivors have
mixed emotions about the news, said Ami Neiberger-Miller,
spokeswoman for the Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors, a support group for survivors of fallen military
loved ones.
Neiberger-Miller noted that some people
have talked of a sense of closure because of bin Laden's
demise. Yet, “there's not a sense of real closure; you can't
have closure from something like this,” she said.
Lisa Dolan understands that firsthand. Her husband, Navy
Capt. Bob Dolan, was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11 when
Flight 77 struck the building.
The news of bin
Laden's death seemed surreal at first, Dolan said, then
bittersweet.
“Nothing will bring back my husband and
the almost 3,000 men, women and children that were killed on
Sept. 11, 2011,” she said. “Is there some vindication in the
death of bin Laden? Maybe. However, I do feel incredibly
proud of our military. They have sacrificed so much for our
freedoms.”
Dolan's son, Beau, was at college -– he's
a freshman at Notre Dame -- when he heard the news. At first
he felt “dumbstruck,” he said. Then, “I started to realize
how great it was, [and] the feeling of being dumbstruck
transformed into sheer excitement.
“I couldn't
believe that it was finally over,” he said. “There seemed to
be a chapter that had been finally finished in my life.”
In a display of unity, scores of students ran up and
down the campus “quad” chanting “USA” and singing patriotic
songs, he recalled.
“It really was an awesome
experience and display of love for the country,” he said.
Dolan's daughter, Rebecca, is coupling her excitement
with caution.
“I've always had it in my mind that
Osama bin Laden ... might always be there looming,” she said.
“I'm excited to think that there is one fewer terrorist out
there. I also feel that there is still work to be done --
that bin Laden's death does not signal the end of terrorism
as we know it.”
.
Trish Lawton also is concerned about
the repercussions of bin Laden's death. “It's a little
scary,” she said. “How many groups are going to want to
avenge his death? How is that going to affect our normal
day-to-day life? It brings me to wonder what lies ahead.”
Lawton learned of bin Laden's death yesterday morning,
while getting her two sons ready for school. Her husband,
Marine Capt. Garret Lawton, was killed in 2008 by a roadside
bomb in Afghanistan. The boys were ages 4 and 6 at the time
of their father's death, she said.
“I know that my
late husband would have been elated that our servicemembers
had a successful mission,” she said.
As for her sons,
“Maybe they will feel some sort of peace that their dad
played a part in eventually making today possible,” she
said, close to tears.
While emotions seem to be
running the gamut from elation to caution, Miller has traced
a common thread of patriotism among survivors. Many people
within the survivor community have changed their social
networking profile picture to a patriotic symbol or to a
picture of their lost loved one, she said.
Miller
changed her Facebook profile picture to a picture of her
brother's tombstone. Army Spc. Christopher Neiberger was
killed Aug. 6, 2007, in Baghdad.
“I would hope I
would never celebrate the death of another human being, but
I do feel that justice was served,” she said of bin Laden's
death. “I'm very proud of my brother and the military and
all of those people who have given so much.
“It's a
momentous day for a lot of people,” she said. |
