Crystal Rodriguez/The Mirror
It’s hard to imagine that nearly a decade ago, the pristine blue skies of Manhattan were shattered by the wail of Boeing jet engines, going from a normal work day for thousands of Americans to one filled with destruction, grief, and tears. For too many, lives were cut short without so much as a goodbye; fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters bid farewell that morning without knowing that it would be the last time they would see their loved ones.
This story, too common among those in the tri-state area, is also the story of Maria Waring, a freshman here at Fairfield. Maria’s father, Jimmy Waring, then just 49 years old, worked in the South Tower of the World Trade Center at Cantor Fitzgerald and was killed in the attacks on September 11th.
While some Fairfield students took to the Quad, the Townhouses, Bellarmine Hill, and the Apartments to sing patriotic songs and celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden, Maria felt an incredible mix of emotion and did not join the celebration until much later.
“It was a weird feeling. It was a lot of mixed feelings…[bin Laden’s death] didn’t register. While everybody was out celebrating, I was shaking. I wasn’t expecting those feelings,” she said. “I just kept remembering everything like it was yesterday.”
Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was assassinated late Sunday evening by an elite group of two dozen Navy SEALs during a raid on a property in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 31 miles from the capital of Islamabad.
Bin Laden’s body was given a “proper, Muslim” burial, with his body being “gently placed” in the Arabian Sea, according to the press release. Following Muslim law, his body was washed and placed in a white sheet before being put in its final resting place at the bottom of the ocean.
Bin Laden’s death prompted large-scale celebrations across the United States, with a large percentage taking place on college campuses; Penn State and West Virginia had notably large celebrations. Also, the streets around the site of the Twin Towers were packed with people celebrating the death of the mastermind of September 11th.
Here at Fairfield, students marched all through campus singing “God Bless America”, shouting out “U.S.A.”and waving American flags.
The demonstrations were an “outpouring of patriotism. It was amazing to see my generation come out and raise one voice,” said Joe Marino ‘14. Students received several noise complains, but no write-ups were issued and no enforcement measures were taken, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety.
Despite bin Laden’s death, many families of those killed in the attacks don’t know quite how to deal with his death; some felt closure, but others felt a much more complex range of feelings. Despite knowing he is dead, seeing bin Laden’s face on the news, said Waring, just reminds her of the pain she felt nearly ten years ago.
“It is some sort of closure. You take it differently, of course, as you get older; each year it’s new feelings. You just deal with it in different ways,” she said. “This is what made me who I am today.”
Even when faced with the constant reminder of the loss of her father when she was just nine years old, Maria knows that her father is still with her.
Bin Laden’s death is a crucial defining point in the War on Terror. But it is also important to remember all 2,997 men and women killed in the attacks, all soldiers and members of the armed forces, and the servicemen and women killed in the pursuit of bin Laden.
“People forget,” said Waring. “Every day the pain is there, but you just learn to accept it and learn from it.”
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