Changes Since 9/11

Our final look back after a week of looking surveys the thoughts of three local people whose fields were changed by .

They are an airline pilot, a fire chief and a veteran.

They talked about lingering concern, ongoing preparation and wanting to continue to remember.

Delta pilot Rich Malagrifa

Rich Malagrifa was flying 757s in 2001 and took off from Atlanta in one of the first flights from its airport after air traffic resumed post 9/11.

He remembers pilots, flight attendants and passengers being on edge in months just after September 11.

In the back of their minds they wondered if there were other terrorists waiting to act.

Over time, those worries have faded but not vanished, said Malagrifa, who is also a Swampscott selectman.

Even with improved airport security and improved intelligence and surveillance, some people get anxious, especially on September 11, each year, Malagrifa said.

Incidents of terror trigger worries.

For example, almost three years ago, in November 2008, when terrorist took over a Mumbai, India hotel and more than 150 people were killed.

Airline crews stayed at that hotel, and crew was actually on the way to the hotel when news of the Mumbai attacks broke.

Malagrifa says a seed of doubt remains, not that another attack much like 9/11 will happen, but recognition that something could happen.

“Since 9/11 I think we all are trying prevent things more but there are always weaknesses,” he said.

Swampscott Fire Chief Kevin Breen

One change to the department has been added security at the fire station.

“Pretty much in my whole career the station was never locked,” the fire chief said.

Now it is. Surveillance cameras add another security layer. 

But the biggest change to the department since 9/11 has been expanded training to improve the response at disasters, Breen said.

The federally mandated training defines a clear chain of command when numerous agencies are at a disaster.

“Emergency scenes are bedlam for a while,” Breen said. 

In New York on Sept. 11, 2001, many decision makers were in the Twin Towers and were lost, he said.

Now, the training teaches departments to coordinate their response and follow guidelines for sizing up the situation, for establishing goals and for communicating among themselves and with other agencies.

Veteran Jim Schultz

Jim Schultz of the Swampscott Police Department is also the town veteran’s agent, assisting vets with things such as employment, health care and and housing.

Schultz, who was in the Marine Corps, between 1974-78, said one of the big changes after 9/11 was a surge in patriotism.

A large number of graduates from Swampscott High School chose to serve in the military after 9/11, among them Jared Raymond.

Jared was a graduate of the class of 2004, and an Army specialist who was killed in Iraq in 2006.

The town lost another young person in Iraq in 2007, Marine Capt. Jennifer Harris, who was already in the military at the time of 9/11 having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Jennifer was serving her third tour of duty in Iraq in 2007.

While the surge in patriotism has receded, Schultz and others want to honor local people lost in the war and those who have served.

A War on Terror monument will eventually take its place between the Vietnam and Korean monuments, located  in view of Town Hall.