Hand in Hand
It was just 2:03 p.m. local time at Syracuse University when Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed in the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland. The campus was nearly empty as exam week was ending and most of the nearly 15,000 students had departed for the winter intersession. Upon hearing the news, those students, faculty, and staff who remained on campus found their way to Hendricks Chapel to mourn and find solace. University staff went to work confirming the roster of returning study abroad students whose lives had been lost. They would work countless hours over the coming days and weeks, following news reports and supporting victims’ families.
Over 3,000 miles away, the town of Lockerbie found itself thrust onto the international stage. This small community was faced with the staggering tasks of recovery and investigation. Lockerbie Academy, a local secondary school, was commandeered for investigation headquarters. The Town Hall and ice rink served as temporary morgues. Services such as telephones and gas were widely disabled, homes were destroyed and damaged, and townspeople were mourning the loss of 11 of their friends, family, and neighbors. Throughout the turmoil of the days and weeks following the disaster, residents nevertheless opened their arms and doors to the families of victims from around the world. Local groups, organizations, and individuals coordinated food and hot drinks for investigators and search crews. Necessities, blankets, and baked goods were provided for neighbors who had lost everything.
The shared tragedy of Syracuse University and Lockerbie, Scotland has drawn the two communities together over the subsequent decades through exchange programs, commemorations of the disaster, and a deep mutual respect.
Over 14,000 people attended the memorial service for Pan Am Flight 103 held in the Carrier Dome, including all but six of the 35 Syracuse University study abroad students’ families. University offices were closed and classes canceled to ensure members of the campus community could attend without conflict. Senators Alfonse M. D’Amato and Daniel P. Moynihan both offered remarks, as did Syracuse Mayor Thomas G. Young and New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo. Chancellor Melvin Eggers announced the creation of 35 memorial scholarships, one for each student lost, as well as the University’s intention to construct a permanent physical memorial. “There will be memorials of other kinds,” Eggers continued, “in our striving to be an ever more humane institution and in our working, in the time left to us, to make our contribution toward a better world.”
The Daily Orange was not published during the end of the fall 1988 semester and winter intersession. This first issue of the spring 1989 semester commemorates the lives of the 35 Syracuse University study abroad students killed in the bombing, and features coverage of the memorial service held in the Carrier Dome.
Over 700 people, including victims’ relatives and residents of Lockerbie and the surrounding area attended the memorial service at Dryfesdale Parish Church on January 4, 1989. They were joined by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Labour Leader Neil Kinnock, United States Ambassador Charles Price, and senior Pan Am executives Thomas G. Plaskett and Hans Miska, among others. The service was relayed to the church hall, cinema, Mid Annandale Old Comrades Club and Premises, and the church grounds for those attendees for whom there was not room in the church itself. “Already one hears in the media about retaliation,” remarked Rt. Reverend Professor James Whyte during the ceremony. “As far as I know, no responsible politician has used that word, and I hope none ever will, except to disown it. For that way lies the endless cycle of violence upon violence, horror upon horror.”
Produced by the Community Liaison Office established in Lockerbie Library, Community Update provided residents of Lockerbie and the surrounding area with important information regarding the disaster, recovery efforts, and community support. The first issue was made available December 29, 1988. Initially distributed to key neighborhoods and areas by volunteers, Community Update included information about school and services closures, structural and environmental safety inspections, resources for legal and trauma counseling, community meetings, and guidance in dealing with reporters from international news outlets. Readers could learn of calls for volunteers to assist with debris removal or at the drop-in-café for search crews and first responders. There were also notices of memorial services and updates about the status of the Lockerbie Air Disaster Appeal Fund.