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As a small group of Syracuse University chaplains gathered in person Monday to memorialize the victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, several SU community members joined them virtually.

On Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland when a bomb in the cargo hold went off. All 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground were killed as the plane crashed, including 35 SU students returning from a semester abroad in London and Florence, Italy.

The United States Justice Department unsealed charges Monday against Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, a Libyan bomb expert suspected in the attack. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, is the only person who has been convicted of being involved in the bombing.

SU held a virtual ceremony Monday, the 32nd anniversary of the attack, to honor those lost.

“Today we gather from near and from far,” said Hendricks Chapel Dean Brian Konkol, who led the service. “Today we gather together in honor of those we remember.”

Konkol began the service inside Hendricks Chapel at 2:03 p.m., the exact time of the bombing. He offered prayers and remarks alongside several other SU chaplains.

Chancellor Kent Syverud also spoke at the service, acknowledging the need to remember those who lost their lives on the flight and the importance of working to honor what they would have achieved in the future.

“Universities are good at remembering. As institutions, we pass memories on from generation to generation, over life spans and centuries,” Syverud said. “Whether in person, online or in spirit, we pause from our busy lives to observe this memorial and pass this torch.”

Every year, the SU Remembrance Scholar Selection Committee chooses 35 SU seniors to represent the students who died in the bombing. The committee also selects two students from Lockerbie to attend SU tuition-free for a year to honor the 11 Scottish residents who died in the terrorist attack, as well as Andrew McClune, a former Lockerbie Scholar who died during his time on campus.

Many of SU’s Remembrance events, including the annual Rose Laying Ceremony and other traditions from Remembrance Week, were moved, canceled or held virtually this year due the coronavirus pandemic. 

During the service, this year’s 35 Remembrance and two Lockerbie Scholars each shared pre-recorded remarks about the individuals they represent. Former Lockerbie Scholars also spoke about what the program meant to them and how they continue to remember The Lockerbie 11 — the residents who died on the ground when the plane crashed.

To Joseph Holland, who was a Lockerbie Scholar during the 2018-19 academic year, the essence of the two programs is not only remembering the victims of the attack but also harnessing and honoring everything they lost.

“Realizing just how fragile the world around us is (and) appreciating what we have and the dreams we hold has an everlasting impact on you,” Holland said.

Konkol spoke of the permanent bond between SU and Lockerbie.

“Pan Am Flight 103 brought the world together through a collective grief, and perhaps no two communities were more united than Lockerbie, Scotland and Syracuse, New York,” Konkol said. “This exchange has strengthened the bonds between our communities and has shown us over and over again how beauty can emerge out of brokenness.”

Later in the service, Konkol and the other chaplains moved from Hendricks Chapel to the Wall of Remembrance, which was created in 1990 as a physical memorial for the tragedy.

At the conclusion of the service, Konkol shared a final prayer and thanked everyone involved in the program. A list of the 270 victims from the attack then appeared on the screen.

“As we pause here in the present, may we remember our past, and may we all receive the fullness of life that awaits us into the future,” Konkol said.

Published on December 21, 2020 at 5:22 pm

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss