Terrorist attacks on America
We lost at least three of our own
September 2001
The shocking terrorist attacks on New York and Washington
DC on September 11, 2001, claimed the lives of close to
7,000 people from 60 counties. Three of them are Ethiopians.
Dr Yeneneh Betru was travelling from Washington DC to Los
Angeles. He was in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon
building in Washington DC.
Eskedar Melaku was working in the 98th floor of the northern
tower of the World Trade Center which was hit first. Eskedar
started working there recently after graduating in accounting
with MA from Queens College, New York.
Jemal Legesse was also inside one of the World Trade
Center towers when the hijacked planes crashed into
the buildings.
Ethiopian Review extends its condolences to the families of these fellow Ethiopians and all the victims of the atrocious terrorist attacks. The perpetrators of this mass murder must be brought to justice.
The following is an article about one of the victims, Dr Yeneneh Betru, a promising, socially conscience young Ethiopian who loved his country and tried to help his people. The article was published in the Los Angeles Times and reprinted here with permission.
Good-bye to a friend
Los Angeles Times, Sep. 22, 2001
By Ryan Carter
Hundreds gather in memory of Burbank (suburb of Los Angeles) physician Yeneneh Betru, who was on the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon last week.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to our family now, but we’ll never forget what was inside a great man,” Sirak Betru said.
Betru was remembering his older brother, Yeneneh Betru, who died Sept. 11 in one of the four hijacked airplanes during the terrorist attacks.
About 10 family members, including Yeneneh Betru’s mother, brothers, sister, uncle and several cousins, wept quietly during the memorial service held Friday in the auditorium of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where Yeneneh Betru, a physician and Burbank resident, had worked. The auditorium was packed with mourners.
Members of the family, all originally from Ethiopia, had just returned from Arlington, Va., where the American Airlines Flight 77, on which 35-year-old Yeneneh had been a passenger, crashed into the Pentagon.
“If you ever needed a friend in our family, Yeneneh was the one to come calling. He is the kindest, most thoughtful person I have ever known,” Sirak Betru said.
Yeneneh Betru, who had planned to marry upon his return to Burbank, was remembered by colleagues as a quiet, even shy man with a pioneering devotion to patients and a behind-the-scenes ambition to bring medical attention and technology to his native country.
“He will be saving lives long after his life was tragically cut short,” said a tearful Dr. Adam Singer, president of In-Patient Consultants Management, where Yeneneh worked.
In the past three years, Yeneneh had been putting money away to purchase dialysis machines that could be sent to Ethiopia, where patients with kidney problems could receive medical attention.
Officials at In-Patient Consultants Management will carry on Betru’s dream. Donations for dialysis machines for Ethiopia can be sent to IPC Hospitalist Company, 4605 Lankershim Blvd., Suite 617, North Hollywood, CA 91602.
For more information, call (818) 753-6480.
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