Families of TWA victims fight on 

 By Jim Franco  

Their fight for justice is nearing a decade. Closure, never an option, is a four-letter word to a parent who has lost a child. Rather, most demand a "resolution." A trial for the two Libyan Nationalists indicted in 1991 for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21 1988 to stand trial. 

 They fight, they wait, they write letters. One visited Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli. They wade through political murk and mire and find strength in each other -- but they will not give up. 

 "My daughter was murdered," Elizabeth Philipps, of Albany, who lost her daughter, 20-year-old Sarah. "I can't just wash my hands of that --I have to do whatever I can do." 

 At their quarterly meeting in Albany on Saturday about 60 members of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 met with a representative from the State Department to discuss the "take-it-or-leave-it" offer by the United States and the United Kingdom, and the future of the case. 

The offer, announced on Aug. 24 by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, is a compromise. Gadhafi's originally requested the two men accused of the crime, Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi and Leman Hkalifea, be tried in a Muslim court and the U.S. and Great Britain insisted on holding it in either one of their countries. It was agreed to hold the trial, under Scottish Law, in the Netherlands but Gadhafi now states he fears the two men will not receive a fair trial or will be kidnapped and has not released the two. 

 The meeting with state department representative Bruce Roberts was closed to the public and the press, but those members interviewed are pleased with the efforts of Albright and the Clinton administration. 

"He made himself accessible, which is a real change from the previous administration. The fact they are doing ‘something' is a real change from the previous administration," said Joan Dater, of Pittstown, mother of Gretchen, 20, and the driving force behind bringing Rodgers to Albany for the briefing. "It was a question and answer format and he was very helpful, very open." 

 A meeting with Albright is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Washington. The meeting, family members expect will revolve around the possible trial, the reluctance of Gadhafi to release the two men, and what the next step will be. 

 "It seems that Libya backed itself into a corner," Philipps said. "The evidence has to be exposed. We know Libya pulled the trigger, but we don't know who bought the gun. Although I remain skeptical about a trial happening, I and a number of others are prepared to attend -- my passport is up-to-date." 

 The bomb went off minutes after the plane took off from an airport in Scotland over the village of Lockerbie. Killed were 259 passengers and crew, as well as 11 people on the ground. Among the dead were 189 Americans. Of those, 54 were New York residents, mainly Syracuse University students studying abroad. The average age was 26. 

 Many victims feel that the original insistence on holding the trial in the U.S. or Great Britain has been compromised, and fear other compromises may be forthcoming. 

 "Personally I would like to see them tried here or in Great Britain," Joanne Hartunian, of Niskayuna, mother of Lynne, 21, said. "But I want to see them tried ... to see this resolved." 

 Dr. Eileen M. Leary, an expert on traumatic stress from Saratoga, head of emotional support meetings for the victims since Jan. 1989, said the families will never be "completely over their loss." 

 "What they are suffering is more than grief," Leary said. "Many suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Children are not supposed to die before their parents, and when that happens to a parent it throws their whole concept of world order into chaos." 

 She added the action that took so many young lives cannot be compared to a car accident as it is the direct result of "man's inhumanity against other man. It is difficult to conceive of anyone placing a bomb aboard a plane to further a political agenda." 

 The sheer brutality of the tragedy and the profound loss of so many people that have brought the families into a cohesive, powerful unit. 

 "This is a special group," Philipps. "We care about each other's lives ... it's important for us to get together."