25 years on, Australian 9/11 survivors find their own path to healing
This week marks a quarter century since the September 11 attacks, and for two Australian men the scars remain as vivid as ever. Yet both have found unexpected ways to cope, from the Sydney Swans to a visit to Guantanamo Bay.
How did the 9/11 attacks affect Australian families?
Simon Kennedy, a Sydney man, is travelling to the United States to honour his mother, Yvonne Kennedy, who was killed when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. She was 62 and had just retired after 25 years with the Red Cross, embarking on the holiday of a lifetime.
“You can't help but notice that great Yvonne-shaped hole that's missing in our family,” Kennedy said.
Each year, he quietly pays tribute to his mother and the nine other Australian victims at a discreet memorial plaque in Sydney. But the question of forgiveness remains complicated.
“Holding on to hate is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
Kennedy wrestles with the distinction between forgiveness and simply letting go of hatred. He can no longer watch the footage from that day, recalling the frantic calls for information and the agonising wait for confirmation.
“The hope goes up and then it's down again,” he said. “Logic came in and told me it was time to start calling the family.”
What happened to Tony Milne after the Twin Towers fell?
Tony Milne, manager of the Windows on the World restaurant atop the North Tower, was initially listed as missing, potentially dead. He had clocked off just hours before the attacks.
“We lost 86 [staff],” Milne said. “I went to two [funerals]. And then we started burying thumbs and limbs. And then that just became really too difficult.”
The trauma led to a PTSD diagnosis and a decision to move as far away as possible: to Australia.
How did the AFL become a lifeline for a 9/11 survivor?
Milne found an unlikely source of salvation in the Sydney Swans and the AFL. In 21 years, he has missed only five home games and describes the club as “one massive family.”
“It's 100 per cent helped me because it gives me a focus,” he said. “I think of it as a lifesaver.”
Why did Simon Kennedy visit Guantanamo Bay?
Kennedy took a different path. He visited Guantanamo Bay, the island prison where the terrorists were detained, hoping to see the men responsible face to face.
“I don't know why I went, and I don't know what I was looking for or what I thought I would find,” he said. “But it ended up being quite a healing process for me.”
This week, he will attend the Pentagon's official memorial service. Milne, by contrast, has not returned to the United States in 25 years.
Both men acknowledge they are still dealing with the aftermath and probably always will. The incalculable cost of the world's worst terror attack endures.