In the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988,
Karen Lee Hunt and 269 people died for no reason.
20 years later all of the persons responsible for this terrible tragedy
have yet to be brought to justice!
Shortly after the crash, Karen's father Bob wrote an
article about the tragedy that was published in the the Rochester newspapers.
A local singer songwriter,
Bonnie Abrams, took Bob's words and wrote a song for Karen and all of
the victims of Pan Am Flight 103.
The song is titled "Only Americans"
Click here to listen to a sound clip from Only Americans.
Only Americans MP3
Three years after the crash a gentleman from England, Richard Newbegin, was on a holiday
to Lockerbie.
He went to see the Lockerbie Memorial, and although he had never met or even heard of Karen,
went home and wrote "Song For Karen", which he then recorded at his friend
Ali Lee's Mill Studio, in Alnwick, England.
Click here to read Richard's compelling story in his own words.
Click here to read the lyrics from Song For Karen.
In November of 1998, Bob and Peggy Hunt brought the recording to Dynamic Recording
and said they wanted to release it to keep Karen's memory alive, and to generate
donations for the Ronald McDonald House charity. We asked Jerry Brongo,
who did the arrangements and the music for "Only Americans", if he would
take Richard's "Song For Karen" andarrange and create the music for that song
as well. This started a wonderful collaboration between Richard and Jerry -
the results of which can be heard by clicking here.
MP3 (Song For Karen - complete song)
The final CD and Cassette contain Only Americans,
and the original Song For Karen recorded in England, and
the new version arranged by Jerry, with Richard's vocals, and
Peggy Campbell reading Karen's Poem,
plus all of the music without the vocals
A Testimony
On December 21, 1988, at 7:03 pm, a heinous, despicable atrocity was committed in the sky above Lockerbie, Scotland - the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, carrying 259 passengers and crew of various nationalities from London to New York. A further eleven Lockerbie residents died on the ground.
The mass murder of 270 innocent, defenseless men, women, and children.
Those of us who were not affected directly by this inhuman act - who have only read about or have been informed by media coverage of the tragedy, cannot begin to imagine the suffering that started on that night, and continues still. We can sympathize. We can be horrified. We can be enraged.
We may not even care. It didn't happen to us.
But where one can begin to get a perspective of the tragedy and the personal horror and suffering is in the silence of the beautiful garden of remembrance on the outskirts of the town.
To stand in the stillness in front of the memorial is a most humbling experience. The heartrending sentiments on those marble stones are a poignant and everlasting reminder of what man can do to man.
I cried. Why? I knew no one.
I had not been at that place before. But, I cried.
I read all the beautiful words. Emotions flooded. Where do loved ones find such beauty in words?
So peaceful now.
The individual plaques on the wall at either side of the main memorial in remembrance of some of the
American victims served as a reminder of the tragedy of another nation's families.
Terrorism does not discriminate.
Then I read the following plaque.
The effect it has had on me I shall carry for the rest of my life.
So far from home. So cruel. So obscene. Yet, peace.
Indescribable suffering has been engen-dered on friends and family of many
nations since that horrific night. Tragic, brave people whom I have not,
nor ever will meet. What can I offer these people? What could I say?
I think of you all. How can I not. I think of Karen.
You knew this wasn't the end. 270 spirits live again.
In peace. In The Garden of Everlasting Love. Yes, that is the somewhere,
Karen. Together. Forever.
Who were you, Karen? I still cry.
WDYN Radio
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