9/11 Ten Years After

Changes Since 9/11

Our last installment of 9/11 Ten Years After presents thoughts from an airline pilot, a fire chief and a veteran.

Our final look back after a week of looking back at 9/11 surveys the thoughts of three local people whose fields were changed by 9/11. 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 …

• Photos (3)

UPDATED: Middle School Kids Memorialize 9/11 With Wreaths

Many people have taken time to look at the wreaths this weekend at the King's Beach walkway.

This article, submitted by the middle school principal, was first posted on Friday. Here are some additional photographs that the principal sent us after the kids had assembled the memorials later on Friday. Although the oldest of our students were four and others were not even born yet, the staff and students from Swampscott Middle School took time this week to stop and honor the victims who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.  As the tenth anniversary approaches, teachers spoke with students about the events of September 11, 2001 and explored the idea of freedom and what it means to us today.  Students then took red, white and blue paper and made a tracing of their hands.  Written along the fingers of each hand are the names of …

• Photos (7)

6 Things To Do This Weekend: Sept. 9 - 11

Attend a dedication, enjoy some football and pause.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday looks good.  The National Weather Service is calling for a sunny Saturday and a sunny Sunday, temperatures in the mid- to high-60s. Here are some ideas to get out and about. 1. Walk and See a Memorial Where/When: At the King's Beach walkway, Swampscott Middle School students will place handmade paper wreaths in memory of the victims of 9/11. The wreaths will be placed at the site Friday afternoon and remain over the weekend. Why Go: To see the memorial. 2. Watch Soccer Where/When: The girls' varsity soccer team plays its first game of the year Friday at 3:45 pm at the high school vs. Triton Regional High School.  Why Go: To see some soccer and root for the home team. 3. Get your Car Washed Where/When: …

• Photos (1)

9/11 Ten Years After

VIDEO: Mass Task Force 9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 steel awaits placement in a memorial at the Mass Task Force's campus at the Beverly Airport.

It was early morning May 2010 when the 12 Mass Task Force members returned to New York City to pick up the World Trade Center steel they had been awarded for their memorial site. It was two large steel window posts that were struck by a 757 wing on the second tower. All but one of the Massachusetts rescue team were part of the crew that had responded on Sept. 11, 2001, the first FEMA task force to Ground Zero. Ed Seligman, now a Swampscott firefighter, was the force’s logistics person, and Bobby Better, a Swampscott resident and deputy chief for the Chelsea Fire Department, was head of rescue operations. The May 2010 return was moving, they said. It remains emotional. They were met by New York City Fire Department officials and toured the …

• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

9/11 Ten Years After

An Officer Reflects on 9/11

Crisis intervention lessons born of crisis.

From grief came common ground and a better understanding of how to intervene in a crisis. Swampscott police Sgt. Rick McCarriston teaches part-time police officers how to respond to people who are in crisis. The class he teaches at the police academy draws on personal experience, some of which came right out of New York City in the weeks after 9/11. McCarriston tells the reserve officers that some people in crisis, overwhelmed by emotions, are more likely to listen to an officer who speaks to them with understanding and empathy as opposed to threats and orders. To make his point he takes the students back 10 years ago, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He was just leaving his mother's funeral at the Swampscott Cemetery when someone told him …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

9/11 Ten Years After

VIDEO: Have We Changed Since 9/11

We ask three Swampscott residents their thoughts on whether the country has changed in the 10 years since 9/11.

We ask three Swampscott residents their thoughts on whether the country has changed in the 10 years since 9/11.

• Videos (1)

Musings: A Column on Local Culture

Redemption

Swampscott poet mourns those lost in 9/11 in award winning poem.

If you spend any time at all with poet Clem Shoenebeck it is clear that wherever he goes he leaves behind him a wake of kindness. Share with him even a cup of morning coffee at Panera’s in Vinnin Square and it leads to hellos and introductions to most of the staff. This compassion comes through in his poetry--each poem, no matter how difficult the topic, ends at a place of, if not peace, at least understanding. Take, for example, his poem For the Angels, Unwinged, first published in Aurorean in December, 2001, judged Outstanding Poem of Issue, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The poem’s subject matter is instantly clear, instantly upsetting:             On the flaming tower,             you faced that terrible choice;             the …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)