PanAm flight 103: The tragedy, stories, and legacy

December 21st, 1988 is a day that will never be forgotten. On that tragic day, 35 Syracuse students boarded PanAm flight 103 after a semester spent in London. These students would have came home just in time for the holidays. Not two hours into the flight, PanAm flight 103 was bombed in an act of terror over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 passengers perished, along with the 35 bright Syracuse students. 35 dreamers, 35 leaders, 35 friends, 35 brothers and sisters killed in the hands of evil. Syracuse students and faculty have held those 35 friends in their hearts since that grievous December day. Here are their stories.

Simon Cole, Class of 1989

“It was an awful night, and much of it remains a blur to this day. It is hard to distinguish between my actual memories and what I think happened, all muddled together in the fog of the intervening years. The first we heard was from the news on television – this was long before cell phones – and friends started to gather at my apartment. I remember hopeful rumors about people not getting on flights, all dashed in the end. I remember many of us headed to Hendricks Chapel. There were no instructions to do so, we just sort of went there. I can’t recall if there was a service of some sort, that, too, is lost to memory now. I recall being offended that there was media on the quad; it seemed a grotesque intrusion, but not so terrible as the scene I saw on TV of a student’s mother collapsing at JFK airport upon hearing the news. I suppose I was still in denial that first night, but it became starkly real in the morning with the photos of the victims in the newspaper. I was haunted by a recurring imagining of their last moments. I had been in the London program the previous semester and envisioned the routine of their final days. The school handled it well.  Classes and finals went on as usual from the next day onward. I suppose there were individual accommodations made where needed, but the immediate return to routine was wise. At the age of 21, I learned two lessons from this incident that I have carried with me since. First was the reality of sudden death and that the young were not exempt. Second was the clear understanding that our nation had enemies that wanted to kill us. It did not matter how different we thought we were – politically, culturally, etc. – we were the same in the eyes of our enemies.”

Eleni Augustinos, Class of 1989

“It was mid afternoon. I was in my apartment on Ostrom, cutting Brian Cabelof’s hair…the TV was on so he could watch a soap opera while I was cutting his hair. The news interrupted the program to announce that [PanAm flight 103] went down. Brian realized before I did what they were saying. We were glued to the TV waiting for more information. Finally it was confirmed. It was awful, he knew one of the girls, Nicole…We were hoping maybe she wasn’t on the flight, but then they started scrolling the names, and she was on it. We didn’t know what else to do, but felt we should go to Hendrick’s Chapel. When we got there, there were hundreds of people there. I guess every one had the same idea.

That day was terrible, but the days that followed were worse, because every where more information was coming in about the people on the plane, their history, their grieving families. Some were only children, some were siblings, so parents lost both of their children. It was so sad.

A few days later they had a service in Hendrick’s. Campus wasn’t the same for a very long time.”

Taras Moroz, Class of 1989

“Many of us were completing our final exams for the semester and looking forward to the holidays. Upon returning back to our house in the afternoon on December 21, 1988, the television stations were already broadcasting the news of the incident. Phone calls were made and it was evident that one of the victims was someone we knew.”

Dr. Wallins, Former Professor in Whitman School of Management

“There was a lack of fulfillment, you couldn’t approach the survivors, and so we had to mourn in absence…I think at the time the loss, people drew closer together. Since we didn’t have the families of the lost to comfort, there was a real closeness within the students on campus. There wasn’t anyone on campus who didn’t know someone among the group. It was truly a shared loss of the Syracuse community.”

Life through Legacy

The Remembrance Scholars program, introduced by late Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers, allows the passionate and zealous lives that perished on PanAm flight 103 to live on. 35 exceptional SU students are chosen to represent those lost. Through this program, SU immortalizes the lost in a beautiful and unique way.

Meg Minier, Remembering Karen Lee Hunt

“Carrying on the legacy of my victim, Karen Lee Hunt, has without a doubt been the most meaningful part of my college career. It’s both a rewarding and humbling experience to be able to serve as a representative of such a talented, intelligent, and caring person. Though growing up in the same town is the most obvious connection that Karen and I share, with every picture I see or piece of writing I read, I discover more and more similarities, and in turn feel a deeper connection to her life. Through the Remembrance Scholar program, I’ve learned that no person is too small to make a big impact on our world. Although Karen’s life ended too soon, her energy for life and motivation to succeed still resonate with students on our campus today, and I know her legacy will shine here forever. After Remembrance Week ends, I look forward to bringing the memory of Karen as a piece of my hometown with me as I start a new chapter in my life after graduation. I know she will continue to push me to be a better person everyday, as I continue to live my life for the both of us.”

Sarah Whittaker, Remembering Stephen Boland

“I first learned about Stephen J Boland before I learned about my acceptance to Syracuse University. It was the summer before entering my senior year of high school and my older brother, Jon was attending SU at the time. I remember walking into Jon’s room and seeing a framed Delta Tau Delta sweatshirt hanging on his wall. As I proceeded to ask Jon why he had his sweatshirt framed and on his bedroom wall, Jon told me about the life and legacy of Stephen J Boland, the terror attack of Pan AM 103, and of the Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars. As it turned out, that sweatshirt didn’t belong to Jon, it belonged to a member of Jon’s fraternity that Jon had never met because his life was taken on December 21, 1988. That member was Stephen J Boland and the sweatshirt was found with his belongings from the plane. The sweatshirt, which was later donated to the Delta Tau Delta fraternity by Stephen’s parents had been handed down within the brotherhood and assigned someone each year to watch over and protect. When I finally learned about my acceptance to SU, I knew that I wanted to strive to become a Remembrance Scholar and honor the memory of Stephen J Boland. His fraternity brothers remembered “his love of the Beatles, few people who met him weren’t attached to his love of life, something which was an inspiration to us all” and his parents remembered him as “God’s personal envoy of peace and brotherhood.” This year, I am beyond humbled and honored to be representing Stephen J Boland during Remembrance Week and I hope to carry on his legacy in all that I do.”

In honor of: 

Wendy A. Lincoln, Alexander Lowenstein, Alexia Kathryn Tsairis, Amy Elizabeth Shapiro, Anne Lindsey Otenasek, Christopher Anderw Jones, Cynthia J. Smith, Eric M. Coker, Frederick “Sandy” Philips, Gary L. Colasanti, Gretchen Joyce Dater, Jason M. Coker, John P. Flynn, Julianne F. Kelly, Karen Lee Hunt, Kenneth J. Bissett, Kesha Weedon, Louise “Luann” Rogers, Mark Lawrene Tobin, Miriam Luby Wolfe, Nicholas Andreas Vrenios, Nicole Elise Boulanger, Pamela Elaine Herbert, Peter R. Peirce, Richard Paul Monetti, Sarah S.B. Philipps, Scott Marsh Cory, Shannon Davis, Stephen J. Boland, Steven Russell Berrell, Suzanne Marie Miazga, Theodora Cohen, Thomas Britton Schultz, Timothy M. Cardwell, Turhan Michael Ergin.