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Giving thanks for lives lost

Lisa Brown
Lighthouse staff

 WHALESBACK - They came and came and came, returning to the rocks so near to where their loved ones perished.

 Busload after busload of family members of the victims of Swissair Flight 111 arrived at the barren rocks overlooking the sea at Whalesback September 1. It took over 40 minutes for more than 700 men, women and children to make their way along the winding path, a poignant reminder that the 229 people lost were far more than names on monuments.

 Some walked with purpose, others seemed hesitant. Some pushed strollers, others came in wheelchairs. Some smiled at the picturesque beauty of the place, others wept for the loss still profoundly felt.

 It was the second dedication of the day for the families. That morning they watched as the unidentified remains of those they lost where interred at Bayswater, where another memorial was consecrated in a private ceremony.

 This time they were joined by those who tried so hard to help in their darkest hours. Representatives of all the groups involved in last September's tragedy lined the path and stood on the rocks overlooking the memorial. Military, search and rescue, RCMP, the Transportation Safety Board, fishermen, the Canadian Red Cross, religious leaders, firefighters, politicians, a Swissair flight crew, community groups and volunteers - all came once again to offer support and compassion.

 At the front of the gathering, on a large granite boulder split in half, the words remembering those who perished faced out to sea, to the very spot where the plane went down a year before.

 "They have been joined to the sea and the sky. May they rest in peace."

 On the other half of the rock, the words paid tribute to so many of those who gathered to somehow say goodbye to people they never knew.

 "In grateful recognition of all those who worked tirelessly to provide assistance in the recovery operations and comfort to the families and their friends during a time of distress."

 Behind the memorial, the HMCS Ville de Quebec moved back and forth, providing a reminder of the tremendous recovery effort and a comforting assurance that work to find the cause of the tragedy continues.

 Lorne Clarke, chairman of the committee that oversaw the planning and design of the memorials, began the dedication.

 "We come to reflect on the tragic loss suffered by so many of the families who are here today," he said. "We are also here to remember the courage and unselfish acts of mercy demonstrated by scores of our friends and neighbours in Nova Scotia and from elsewhere in Canada."

 Rev. Cynthia Chouinard, an RCMP chaplain who worked as a care giver in the weeks following the crash, offered an opening prayer.

 "As we come to dedicate this memorial, we give thanks for the lives of those from Flight 111 who died off these shores. We celebrate all the different and meaningful ways in which their lives touched the lives of others," she said.

 "We give thanks for all those who, at the time of the tragedy and in the days, weeks and months that followed, gave so selflessly of themselves, their gifts and talents, of their love and their compassion."

 The chairman of the Transportation Safety Board, Benoit Bouchard, read the inscription in French. Premier John Hamm then read it in English, before dedicating the monument.

 "To those Nova Scotians who responded on that September night a year ago, and in the dark days that followed, your actions made every citizen of this province proud," Dr. Hamm said. "Your actions speak louder and will be remembered longer, than any words said here today.

 "This memorial does not stand as a monument to the lost. But rather it is a testament to the lives they lived, the love they shared, and the happiness they brought to those around them," he continued. "This is a special place, where the shore touches a sea stretching to the horizon to meet the sky.

 "May their families and friends find moments of peace here."

 Rev. Richard Walsh, a recently-retired minister from Peggy's Cove who comforted family and community members following the crash, gave the benediction.

 "We pray that nothing good in their lives will be lost, but will be of benefit to the world; that all that was important to them will be respected by those who follow; that everything in which they were great will continue to mean much now that they are gone," he prayed.

 As RCMP Insp. Andy Arsenault sang Roses on the Rocks, a song written in memory of the tragedy, 12 volunteers moved in groups of three to the front of the memorial, each laying a rose at its base.

 A fisherman, a relief worker, a family member, community volunteers, a ground search and rescue worker, military, a fire chief, a Red Cross director, the assistant commissioner of the RCMP and a Coast Guard officer quietly paid tribute to those who died as the words flowed over the rocks and tears fell again.

 As the music ended, there was silence. Then a family member, who decided just before the service that she wanted to speak, emerged from the crowd. Peggy Coburn lost her husband Richard in the crash. The New York woman spoke briefly, but said much about what she's found in Nova Scotia during her four stays here.

 "Each visit revolved around the most profound tragedy of my life. Yet during each visit in new ways you have given me the greatest gift that will last me forever," she said. "Your gift is that for the rest of my live if I ever need strength or comfort all I will need to do is remember you and I will gain strength and I will be comforted."

 As she walked away from the microphone, applause quietly arose from the family areas located around the memorial and from the rocks overlooking the sea where some mourners stood.

 The service ended as Lorne Clarke simply thanked everyone for attending and invited families to return.

 Some family members slowly headed back to the buses that would take them to Peggy's Cove and Halifax. Others filed by the monument, a few pausing to lay flowers. Still more immediately headed for the rocks, as if drawn by the sea that claimed those they loved and lost.

 Left: Following the touching, but brief, official services at Whalesback, family members moved to the rocks to gaze at the site where Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the ocean. On the horizon is the HMCS Ville de Quebec.

 Right: Assistant RCMP Commissioner Dwight Bishop was one of 12 Nova Scotians chosen to lay roses on the Whalesback memorial.

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Sep 8, 1999

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