Airline pilots among volunteers to help Sandy 9/11 memorial take shape

SANDY — Dozens of students, residents and community leaders gathered Monday to help the 9/11 healing field once again take shape south of City Hall.

In a little over an hour, nearly 3,000 flags stood in memory of those who lost their lives during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Notable among the volunteers this year were several pilots representing American Airlines, United, Delta, and the Air Line Pilots Association.

“It’s an honor to come here with our crews and be able to set up with the community and honor the memory of all the people we lost on that day,” said Dave Bernard, pilot and volunteer with the Air Line Pilots Association.

Some came from across the country, including deputy chair of the sudden grief response program of the Allied Pilots Association Vern Reaser, an American Airlines pilot based out of Washington, D.C.

Reaser placed attached name cards of the 9/11 victims to flag poles.

“Especially some of these people on the higher floors (of the World Trade Center) that knew they probably weren’t going to get out that day—it’s just…it’s sobering and it’s somber and very powerful,” Reaser said.

Delta Air Lines pilot Mike Gasik was a student pilot at the time of the attacks.

“We all knew where we were that day, right, and watching those planes and thinking about the crew members,” Gasik told KSL TV. “September 11th is a special day, right? It’s a meaningful day for us to remember and we got the email saying we could do this, both D.J. (Flaherty) and I just jumped all over it.”

Not all names on the flags were strangers to the pilots, including that of Brian Sweeney, who died onboard United Airlines Flight 175 when al-Qaeda terrorists crashed it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Bernard met him earlier that day.

“I was a baggage handler—I was in college still, I was at Logan airport,” Bernard said. “I connected in from a different city on Cape Cod—small little commuter flight—and I wound up sitting next to a gentleman who knew I worked at the airport. He said, ‘hey, my bag got lost last time I took this flight, so if you could help get my bag to the right spot, I’d really appreciate it. So I did. And I ran his bag over to the United Airlines terminal and I’ll never forget to this day taking a look at that bag tag and seeing United 175 on that ticket.”

The 9/11 Sandy healing field was expected to remain in place until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

As it was completed, several volunteers remarked on the gravity of all the flags and the lives they represented.

“This is pretty phenomenal,” Gasik said.