Pain remains fresh for the victims’ families

Jean Cleere of Newton has visited the World Trade Center site in Manhattan nearly every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Her husband, Jim, was killed when the north tower collapsed in those attacks.

This year Cleere will mark the anniversary with a memorial at the Newton Fire Station, surrounded by the friends and the community she credits with a big part of her recovery after 9/11.

“The city of Newton and the people of Jasper County, they just took care of me,” Cleere, 61, said. “They lifted me up, and everybody was so kind and so loving and so supportive to help get me through that. I think having this memorial here in Newton is very special for me.”

Jim Cleere was a vice president for Seabury and Smith, a division of Marsh Inc. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was staying at the Marriott at the World Trade Center on a business trip. His remains were never recovered or identified, though his work badge was found and returned to Jean Cleere.

Grief counseling and her Christian faith helped her move forward, the Newton resident said. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after 9/11, and Cleere still seeks counseling when she feels the symptoms coming on.

She still cries over the attacks, and she still misses her husband, Cleere said, but she decided she couldn't be among the throng of 9/11 victims' family members to visit the site on the 10th anniversary.

“You can only imagine what it's like to go out there and be around thousands of people who are in the same shoes as me, many of whom have not been able to accept what happened or they just don't have the hope,” she said. “I have moved on from that point.”

The memorial event at the Newton Fire Department will have a bagpiper, moments of silence and prayer, and a reading of the names of Iowans affected by the attacks, Cleere said.

“When I sit down and think about what happened, it seems like it was yesterday,” she said, “but on the other hand, a lot has happened in 10 years for me personally. I've been able to get my life back, move on, and yet it's always going to be a part of me.”

Orland Amundson and his wife, Karen, still think about the 9/11 attacks every day. Their son, Spc. Craig Amundson, died in the attack on the Pentagon. He was a media illustrator for the Army who grew up in Marion and Anamosa. He was 28 when he died, married and the father of two children.

The anniversary and talking about the events reopens the wounds, said Orland Amundson, 67, a pharmacist who now lives in Hartville, Mo.

“We talk about it. We well up and think about it, but there's good days and bad days,” he said. “It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but it's been

10 years with living with it every day.”

The 10 years have seemed to pass quickly for the Rev. Kris Kincaid of Dubuque. His sister, Karen Kincaid-Batacan, a Waverly native and 40-year-old attorney for a Washington law firm, was on the flight from Washington to Los Angeles that crashed into the Pentagon.

Kincaid said he's concerned people are forgetting the lessons learned. After 9/11, he said, more people were going to church. He believes we've lapsed back into taking things for granted.

“Our fellow citizens were murdered just because they were Americans. Men and women, children, boys and girls,” he said. “I don't think we ever want to forget that. We should be vigilant.”

The 10th anniversary is a chance to remember the victims and to look ahead, Kincaid said.

“What kind of country do we want for our children?” he said. “We need to apply those lessons to today and remember.”

Staff writer Gregg Hennigan contributed to this report.