30 years ago on December 21st, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland while en route from London to New York, killing all 270 passengers and crew on board. Among those who tragically lost their lives in this terrorist attack were 35 Syracuse University students returning home from semesters abroad in Europe.
This week is the campus’ annual Remembrance Week, dedicated to honoring the memories of the victims of Pan Am 103. Several events are held around campus throughout the week, including in Bird Library, as the Pan Am 103 Archives are hosting the special exhibit “We Remember Them: The Legacy of Pan Am Flight 103.”
This special exhibit is on display to the public for the entire 2018-19 academic year to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the tragedy and showcases items from the Pan Am 103 Archives collection. The items on display include personal belongings of some of the victims, newspaper articles from the days after the disaster, documents from the subsequent investigation, and more.
“Grief is a very strange thing, and we all grieve differently,” says Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, Pan Am Flight 103 Archivist on how visitors emotionally react to the archives’ exhibit. “Seeing an item that belonged to a close friend who maybe was on the plane or reading about a family’s experience can still be very emotional for people.”
The events of Remembrance Week go beyond the archives’ exhibit at Bird Library, with several more events being held throughout the week. Playing a major role in planning and organizing the Remembrance Week events are Syracuse’s Remembrance Scholars, 35 current SU students chosen each year to represent the 35 who lost their lives in 1988.
Grace Gugerty, Syracuse senior and anthropology major, is one of this year’s Remembrance Scholars. Each scholar chooses to represent the legacy of one of the 35 students who died on Pan Am 103, and for Grace, it’s her father’s second cousin Lindsey Otenasek.
“It really means the world to me to be able to represent Lindsey,” says Gugerty about carrying on Otenasek’s legacy of service and kindness. “I feel motivated to dedicate my life to the service and care for others.”
Carrying on someone else’s legacy is one of the most unique honors of being a Remembrance Scholar in Gugerty’s mind, “You’re kind of carrying on what they weren’t able to finish… they had learned all these incredible life lessons while they were abroad and they never got to come back and apply what they learned.”
Remembrance Week continues with events such as a celebration of life gathering on Thursday and concludes with a rose-laying ceremony on Friday.
