Families of 9/11 victims from MA held a poignant ceremony at The Garden of Remembrance in Boston’s Public Gardens less than one day after President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden.
206 9/11 victims had ties to MA and 206 roses presnted in ceremony
206 victims of the 9/11 attacks had ties to Massachusetts. Their names are written on the pink granite memorial. On Monday, 206 white roses were placed on the memorial in honor of those who lost their lives.
Families of the victims embraced and cried, according to a Reuters report. The Garden of Remembrance is a special memorial to MA 9/11 victims and each year on the anniversary of the attacks, families, citizens and public officials gather to remember. The memorial was completed in 2004.
MA 9/11 families find relief but not closure
On Monday, the MA 9/11 families said “they found relief, but not closure, in learning of the death of Osama bin Laden,” according to a report from the Reuters News Service.
"The pain never leaves. There's no closure," Dottie Grodberg of Boston told Reuters. Grodberg daughter died in the September 11 attacks. "There's relief in the fact that they've gotten bin Laden. But that's the only relief” she said.
On September 11, 2001, American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175, two planes that originated at Boston's Logan International Airport were hijacked by bin Laden operatives shortly after takeoff and diverted to New York City where they both crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Grodberg’s daughter Lisa Fenn Gordenstein was on AA Flight 11. She said she couldn't believe it "when news of bin Laden's death broke and her phone started to ring nonstop," according to Reuters.
MA resident Judy Larocque, age 50, was heading off on a business trip when she died. on one of the two Boston flights. Her daughters Danielle and Carie Lemack attended the service to remember their mother.
"We don't spend our time thinking about Osama bin Laden. We spend our time thinking about our mom," said Carie Lemack. "The voices of the victims will be louder than his,” according to the Reuters report.
Daughter of 9/11 victim is founder of Survivors' Network
Lemack is the cofounder of Global Survivors Network, an organization for victims of terror
"I'm not a vengeful person, but I'm happy that no other family will have to suffer like we have," said Lemack. "We didn't get a lot of choices about how our mom's murder played out."
"I thought they would never find him," she said. "My first thought was that maybe it would have been better if he had been captured. But I'm just glad he's dead."
SOURCE: Reuters News Service Wire
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