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By Rosemary Pollock
Seatrek Crew Mourns at Terrorist Attack News
CAPE VERDE ABYSSAL PLAIN -- The private venture re-enactment of the 19th
Century migration of European converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints has been taking place over the past six weeks, where those
aboard left behind sports scores, stock prices and celebrity gossip.
However, on Tuesday, Captain Kaare Omsted called crew members and trainees
on deck to announce the news of the terrorist attack on the United States.
Deseret News correspondent Tawny Archibald recently reported ship board
experiences in light of the tragedy.
"My watch on ship has become my family, and the news we receive is limited:
'I have a new grandbaby!' or 'BYU beat Nevada.' " "When Captain Omsted
announced the news of the terrorist attack, and to many of us, it was as if
we were in a bad dream, for all these things only happen in movies, days
later it is still hard to comprehend," she reported.
One of the many aboard reported, "Last night I downloaded 10 e-mails from my
parents. Each e-mail was a news article that shed more light and detail on
the grizzly scene. The carnage, debris and horror suddenly seemed real as I
read account after account."
"I sat at my computer, underneath my hammock, and huge tears rolled down my
face as reality suddenly sunk in. I couldn't hold back the tears, and I
didn't want to. I wanted to understand what millions of Americans were
feeling as they watched the video of the plane crashing into the World Trade
Center and as they heard of the terror from the survivors," one unidentified
passenger explained.
"Maybe I have been blessed to be so ignorant, for truly, ignorance is bliss.
Even though I am so unattached to what is happening in the world around me,
I still feel the sorrow, pain and anguish as though I were there." "I can't
imagine what it will be like to sail into New York harbor in October, only
to see the charred remains of a symbol of business and industry lying in a
mountainous heap between the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building."
As previously reported on Mormon News, Sea Trek significantly scaled-back
its celebration plans for New York City. The "Rock the Dock" celebration,
fireworks and Saints on the Seas Musical Tribute planned for New York have
all been cancelled as a result of the attacks.
Source:
Tragedies seem surreal to those on high seas
Deseret News 16Sep01 N6
By Tawny Archibald: Deseret News correspondent
Trade Center Attack Scuttles New York Sea Trek Gala
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