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Remembering Trauma: Revisiting Memories of the People we Lost

Vasudha Bedi


"Always Tuesday," the poem reads in parts (King, 2016). This poem is part of the large legacy of the memorialization of the 9/11 trauma. The attacks witnessed the loss of brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children, and parents. For those left behind, the event boiled down to a matter of who made it home alive. Eighteen years ago, a tragedy shook the moral compass of the entire world, and for 3051 children, the world itself. The September 11 tragedy gave rise to the study of Childhood Traumatic Grief (CTG) "based on the existence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in children who witnessed their parents' murder" (Brown & Goodman, 2005). CTG is seen in relation to "its adaptive responses to bereavement [and] mental health outcomes of bereavement resulting from a trauma" (Brown & Goodman, 2005).  According to a study, "rates of anxiety (56.8%)… among bereaved children were higher than among nonbereaved children (23.5). The most significant difference was that approximately 30% of bereaved compared with 3% of nonbereaved children had PTSD" (Pfeffer, Altemus, Heo, & Jiang, 2007). Although many of the bereaved children showed typical signs of PTSD (avoidance and re-experience), they also demonstrated certain "symptoms that are unique to CTG, including revenge and yearning for the deceased" (Brown & Goodman, 2005).

Despite the high levels of PTSD, the "probability of bereaved children having PTSD remained high and declined throughout the study" (Pfeffer, Altemus, Heo, & Jiang, 2007). "Communicating about, remembering, and maintaining a connection to the person who died" were some of the strategies adopted by the bereaved to overcome their trauma (Brown & Goodman, 2005). Their trauma has forever been memorialised in the form of homemade videos, photographs, and personal memorabilia. For Caitlin Langone, all that remains of her father, Tommy Langone, an NYPD rescue worker, are some homemade videos, photographs, and his revolver gun along with a pair of handcuffs found at ground zero. Never having found his body, the Langone family has been deprived of the closure their trauma seeks. Despite this, they gather at the family home every Thanksgiving to celebrate the man Tommy was. This memorialisation of trauma, however, comes at a price. Looking at the melted plastic of the revolver, Caitlin cannot help but say, "it's traumatic to know the whole thing. We had to watch it over and over again before we knew and over and over again after we knew" (Sutherland, 2011).

The Burnett girls' father Tom Burnett, a passenger of Flight 93 (United Airlines), died a hero. Their memorialisation of trauma took a different route. Tommy's death had a significant impact on his daughters, who, after his death, stopped their night time dance routine—a ritual they shared with their father. For Anna Clare Burnett, the trauma of losing him manifested itself in the form of screaming and crying and keeping her mother at bay for fear of losing her. It took her a long time to realise that her mother wasn't going anywhere. "The need for children with high levels of CTG to avoid trauma cues is not surprising given the degree to which they were thrust into the national spotlight" (Brown & Goodman, 2005). Their house, like many 9/11 homes, is a shrine to their father and is filled with "medals, sculptures [and] trophies mingled with family and official portraits" (Brown & Goodman, 2005). Their trauma has forever been memorialised not only in pictures and home videos but also in behaviour and thought.

The greatest memorialisation of trauma, however, is Camp Haze, which was set up for the children who had lost a parent in the 9/11 attacks. Run by Charles and Janice Hazelcorn, the camp honours their deceased fun-loving son Scott, nicknamed Haze, who adored children while bringing to life his dream of opening his own camp. For Kaitlin Strada, "the camp [gives] hope and a place to breathe. It's the most comfortable place on earth" (Setting up Camp Haze, 2006).  The camp benefits not only these children but also the elderly Hazelcorns who "feel their pain lift" (Setting up Camp Haze, 2006).  The camp, according to Mr. Hazelcorn, is "[their] only therapy" (Setting up Camp Haze, 2006).

While the attacks and its memorialisation link many of these children together, they no longer wish to be defined by their collective trauma. Memorialisation of their trauma has taken on a new role in their lives. Instead of letting it define them as the victim, many of them have allowed it to shape whom they become. For children like Lindsay and Sonia, their brush with loss and trauma at a young age has equipped them to empathise with people who go through the same. Alexandra Wald channelled her frustration and anger into preventing such an attack from taking place in the future and now works in cybersecurity for the federal government. What seems to be the common strand uniting them all is the idea that "it [pain] doesn't go away because time passes. What you have to do, is…focus on tomorrow, making tomorrow that better day" (Gerace, 2017).


References:

Brown, E., & Goodman, R. (2005). Childhood Traumatic Grief: An Exploration of the construct in children bereaved on september 11. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology , 257-258.

Gerace, A. (2017, September 12th). The Children of 9/11: 16 Years On.Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/knowing-me-knowing-you/201709/the-children-911-16-years

King, L. (2016, September 11). Their young world crumbled. Now the children of 9/11 look back .Retrieved from LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-911-anniversary-montclair-snap-story.html

Pfeffer, C., Altemus, M., Heo, M., & Jiang, H. (2007). Salivary Cortisol and Psychopathology in Children Bereaved by the September 11, 2001 Terror Attacks . Biological Psychiatry , 959.

Setting up Camp Haze.(2006, September 11th ). Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/nyregion/11pog-hazelcorn.html

Tibbon, T. (Producer) & Sutherland J. (Director). (2011, September 11). Children of 9/11[Documentary]. The UK: Darlow Smithson Productions



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