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The Syracuse College Students Killed By Terrorists, 1988

stonehenge
Source: Remembering Karen Lee Hunt | Hunt at Stonehenge, Fall 1988. She was there on a study abroad program through Syracuse.

The disappearance of EgyptAir 804 has made me think a lot about Pan Am Flight 103 and the Syracuse College students killed by terrorists on December 21, 1988. I was in college at the time and more than any other act of terrorism, it impacted me the most. Even more than the Oklahoma City bombing that claimed the life of a college classmate (RIP Jill).

Among the 270 people killed on Pan Am 103 were 35 college students from Syracuse. Thirty-four of them were Gen-Xers — probably the first victims of the War on Terror from our generation.

This week, I started reading about their lives. It’s made me so sad. And, it’s made me wonder what the hell I’ve been doing. What have I done with all the years I’ve been given? Forty-eight so far. Those Syracuse students had so few. A couple decades and some change and they were gone. Blown out of the sky by mad men.

They’re still blowing people out of the sky.

God help us. This life can be so brutal and death, so random.

I contacted the archivists at Syracuse and they are going to help me create a blog series in memory of the victims. (Look for the first post in early June.) In thinking about all this, it occurred to me that in 2007, when I started blogging about Generation X, it was all about me — my essays, my thoughts, my memoirs. But, after nearly a decade, it’s not about me anymore. It’s about you. It’s about the collective us. Stories about our generation.

Here are the birth dates of the 34 Gen X Syracuse students who were killed on December 21, 1988. May they rest in peace. May they inspire us all to give thanks for the years and the days.

  1. Frederick Sandford “Sandy” Phillips, May 8, 1961
  2. John Michael Gerard Ahern, April 16, 1962
  3. Jocelyn K. Reina, May 26, 1962
  4. Wendy Anne Lincoln, January 21, 1965
  5. Turhan Michael Ergin, May 14, 1966
  6. Suzanne Marie Miazga, July 31, 1966
  7. Anne Lindsey Otenasek, January 13, 1967
  8. Louise Ann Rogers, February 13, 1967
  9. Alexander Lowenstein, February 25, 1967
  10. Beth Ann Johnson, March 24, 1967
  11. Mark Lawrence Tobin, April 4, 1967
  12. Timothy Michael Cardwell, July 5, 1967
  13. Theodora Cohen, September 10, 1967
  14. Cynthia Joan Smith, October 6, 1967
  15. Nicole Elise Boulanger, October 28, 1967
  16. John Patrick Flynn, November 24, 1967
  17. Kenneth John Bissett, December 19, 1967
  18. Thomas Britton Schultz, January 5, 1968
  19. Karen Lee Hunt, January 7, 1968
  20. Colleen Renee Brunner, January 4, 1968
  21. Eric and Jason Coker (Twin Brothers) April 23, 1968
  22. Gretchen Joyce Dater, May 17, 1968
  23. Steven Russell Barrell, June 19, 1968
  24. Julianne Frances Kelly, June 27, 1968
  25. Alexia Kathryn Tsairis, July 6, 1968
  26. Elyse Jeanne Saraceni, June 1, 1968
  27. Sarah Susannah Buchanan Philipps, August 15, 1968
  28. Nicholas Andreas Vrenios, August 20, 1968
  29. Richard Paul Monetti, September 11, 1968
  30. Scott Marsh Cory Collection, September 27, 1968
  31. Miriam Luby Woolfe, September 26, 1968
  32. Stephen John Boland, September 28, 1968
  33. Keesha Weedon, October 2, 1968
  34. Shannon Davis, February 19, 1969
  35. Pamela Elaine Herbert, March 27, 1969

Gen-Xers killed in the attack who were not Syracuse students were:
Clare Louise Bacciochi, March 15, 1969
Julian MacBain Benello, December 28, 1962

What do you remember about Pan Am Flight 103? Please follow along this summer as I honor the memory of the Syracuse college students killed by terrorists.

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Selfie

chernobyl

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

Atlas Obscuria has published a fascinating story about this picture of an elephant foot of lava — radioactive corium — taken in 1996 at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site. It takes awhile to get to the selfie explanation, but this is a terrific read. Here’s an excerpt:

“…It’s possible to put together clues embedded in the photos to explain the image. I looked through all the other captions of photos similar photos of the destroyed core, and they were all taken by Korneyev, so it’s likely this photo was an old-school timed selfie. The shutter speed was probably a little slower than for the other photos in order for him to get into position, which explains why he seems to be moving and why the glow from his flashlight looks like a lightning flash. The graininess of the photo, though, is likely due to the radiation.”

Click here to read the story.

A library of images from which this picture came still exists on the Internet, although it’s from the stone age of web design (late 1990s) and the site is no longer maintained. I’ve taken the liberty of saving some of the thumbnails. They are low resolution, but they are part of the history of  nuclear energy that has shaped Generation X and I wanted to save them. Here’s a screenshot and here’s a post I wrote in 2010 about the opening of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It’s not exactly on my top 10 places to visit.

Chornobyl

The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | April 1986

Generation X is the fifth generation shaped by nuclear issues. The first generation was the original Lost Generation and then the Greatest Generation followed by the Silent Generation (sometimes called the Lucky Few) and the Baby Boomers. Generation X was most impacted by the Cold War phase. We transitioned out of that era in 2001, with the current Nuclear Posture Review. Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z are shaped by this most recent phase.

What a mess humans have made of this world. Who could have guessed we were actually safer when we battled just one Superpower? Here’s a post I wrote a few years ago about the Rise of Soviet Nostalgia.

Seems like a good day for Nena’s 99 Luftballons. You might also like this post on 10 Protest Songs from the 80s, which I wrote back in 2011.

The Red Balloon (With Thoughts on the Terrorist Attack in Paris)

Red Balloon Movie Filmed by the Eiffel Tower in Paris

After hearing about the terrorist attack in France on November 13, all I could think about was what Pope Francis said about our piecemeal World War III.

It was September 13, 2014, and he said this while touring a war memorial in Italy where 100,000 World War I soldiers are buried.

“Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep,” he said. “War is madness…Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.”

Paschal with his red balloon

Today, the world weeps for France.

Gen-Xers remember with fondness the educational filmstrips of our school years. We were so thrilled when the classroom lights dimmed and the librarian, with her polyester pantsuits and air of intrigue, appeared with a 16mm projector atop a clanky cart.

Click-click, loop-loop. Tiny specks of dust in the rays of light beaming from the lens.

I could have stayed in that classroom forever, for it was how I learned. And it was how I traveled far and wide — to Paris via The Red Balloon.

red balloon film france

The 1956 film was shown frequently to American school kids throughout the 1960s and 70s. It was about a little boy, Pascal, who befriended a big, round red balloon that had a mind of its own. Bullies ended up destroying it with slingshots, but in the end, other balloons in Paris rescue Pascal and carry him over the city.

Balloons Over Paris

When I was a kid, getting a sign taped to my back that said “Kick Me,” was one of my biggest concerns. These days, far graver things worry our kids. Like getting gunned down at a concert or stadium or cafe or God forbid, in a classroom.

May our prayers lift Paris. May hope and faith carry all who suffer in this time of sorrow.

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