Linda George, a victim of Flight 11.

I couldn't let this day pass without making some small tribute to those innocents who lost their lives on 11th September 2001. There is one person in particular I would like to mention, she has been in my thoughts for some time now.

First my memories of that day.

I will never forget that Tuesday afternoon. I was sitting at my desk at work and the phone rang. It was my daughter, Catherine, she was home watching the television. She said, “Mum, a plane’s crashed into the World Trade Centre.” She didn’t know any more at that time. I assumed it must be a light aircraft piloted by some drunk, or nutter, as the chance of a commercial flight hitting one of those towers seemed unlikely.

As the afternoon progressed she kept ringing back with more and more unbelievable information. I know for a fact very little work was done that afternoon.

One of the girls I worked with had a call from her partner. He worked shifts, arrived home after 2pm and put the television on for company while he ate his lunch. The first channel had some disaster movie on it, he changed channels, again and again. They were all showing the same disaster movie. He thought there was something wrong with the television but then realised, this wasn’t a disaster movie, this was real life. He was one of the many family members, who stayed on the phone for most of the afternoon. No one wanted to be on their own while this horror unfolded, they needed to be able to talk about it.

At 4.30 I finished work and went straight home, to see for myself the shocking news reports.Hoping that somehow it wasn’t as bad as I’d been hearing but of course it got worse.

Mike rang me at 5pm, he’d been out all afternoon doing something for the radio station and hadn’t had the car radio on. When he returned to the studio, he’d walked straight to his desk and phoned me, without speaking to anyone else. He said “Hi. Anything happened today”. I thought he must have been joking but replied ”Haven’t you heard?”  And as I started to tell him, he said “ I know, I can see it” he’d just started to realise what he was seeing on the tv monitors.  

It was really odd but I was angry that he didn’t know. I can’t explain that reaction.

There were hurried calls, as soon as we could get through, to all our relatives in Massachusetts. They were able to confirm they were all safe but one family member had got stuck in another part of America, as all flights were grounded. A minor inconvenience in comparison.

My sister’s partner’s son had been in New York at the weekend and I was worried for his safety but it turned out he had arrived back in Britain just before the planes hit. He had been at the top of the World Trade Centre during the weekend. What a strange thought for him, remembering that view and knowing two days later it was all gone.  

So those are my memories of that day.

The implications lived with me for longer. My son had just completed 8 months of his 4-year artifficer apprentiship, in the Royal Navy. At that point they are assigned to a ship for a year's practical training of engineering on board.

The ship he was assigned to was HMS Southampton, which was on its way for a nice safe training mission in the gulf. Of course, as things unfolded in the next few weeks this rapidly changed to a war footing with Bush and Blair chasing Bin Laden and his cronies.

By the time Simon was supposed to join his ship, he couldn’t. There were threats of attacks on the ships and so they couldn’t put into the normal ports. All their movements now had to be secret. Instead of going out on a commercial flight, He was to be flown out by the RAF to a secret location, from there they would be transported to wherever the ship could briefly stop to pick them up. It was November by the time he could go.

He rang my on his mobile to tell me they’d arrived safely and was being whisked through the desert somewhere to join his ship.

He was 21 and never been out of the country on his own before. Although he seemed OK, I know it was a worrying time for him. As for me I could be seen crying in the supermarket whenever I walked by the Christmas goodies, wondering if he would be home safe for Christmas the following year.

Of course he did come home but my feelings during his absence makes me feel even more for those who lost their loved ones on that horrific day. Fear and worry were my constant companions during those long, winter months. 

On this the fifth anniversary of those atrocities against humanity, i would like to remember one of the victims of flight 11.

I first found out about this young woman when i did a Google on my own name. I was shocked to find it in a list of the passengers of Flight 11.

                        

Below is some of the information I found about Linda. I have also read postings on message boards and know she was a much loved young woman.

Linda George was 27 when she died. She was from Westboro, Massachusetts and was a buyer for TJX Cos., The off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions. She was on her way to California on a buying trip with a number of her colleagues. Her Father, Mother, Sister and Brother survive Linda.

She was engaged to be married within the month. She would have had a wonderful life before her.

Here is information about a memorial set up in her memory.

Linda George Memorial Scholarship

The Linda George Memorial Scholarship is awarded to students from St. Peter Marion High School who will be attending college. St. Peter Marion High School, Grove Street, Worcester, MA 01605.

Today Linda, 11th September 2006, another Linda George, in Worcester, England, will be saying a prayer for you and your loved ones.