Among the various survivors of 9/11 terrorist assaults, flight attendant Peg Ogonowski-Hatch has the horrible distinction of being among the many first and most enduring.
“To lose others to a violent act in your workplace is unthinkable. We have to suffer the very randomness of the event. Why weren’t we the ones on that particular trip? We worked on it all the time. It stays with you forever,” she stated.
More than that, she defined, her husband and co-worker, Massachusetts native airline Capt. John Ogonowski, was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001, among the many earliest victims of a terrorist assault that will declare hundreds of lives.
He and his copilot have been murdered and their aircraft hijacked earlier than it was flown into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
For many, the remainder of that day and the a long time of struggle that adopted are historical past.
Ogonowski-Hatch says for surviving relations the ache goes on and that, for the members of the airline business who lived via 9/11 and so many different tragedies, the survivor’s guilt stays.
“I had frequently worked Flight 11, for 25 years. My late husband John had only begun working it a few months prior,” she stated within the Massachusetts House chamber Sunday. “These are the thoughts that linger.”
Ogonowski-Hatch, joined by Gov. Charlie Baker and different state lawmakers, spoke throughout the twenty first Annual 9/11 Commemoration Observance for the victims and their households, held in individual this yr on the State House in Boston.
Baker started his morning with a flag reducing ceremony and identify studying for the over 200 Massachusetts victims of 9/11, earlier than he gave an emotional closing handle to households and associates of The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund within the House chamber.
“I am reminded, every year, of what so many have lost over the course of the last 21 years,” Baker stated whereas audibly choking up.
Baker famous it could be the final time he and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito would handle the group for an anniversary occasion earlier than he leaves workplace after this yr, however he stated that attending to know the households of 9/11 victims has been a privilege throughout his eight years as governor.
“We ache when we think about all that you have lost: the birthday parties, the graduations, the Friday night dinners, the holiday gatherings, the weddings, hugs, high fives,” he stated. “How many times was someone unable to say, ‘I’m so proud of you’ or ‘I love you’ because they weren’t with you to say it anymore.”
Ogonowski-Hatch hoped that this yr others would be a part of her in recognizing the very important position flight attendants play as first responders, as they did on 9/11.
“This anniversary my heart will be where it literally is every year, remembering my heroes, and hoping that I honor their legacy by being the best damn flight attendant … (and) human that I can be,” she stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”