A life dedicated to justice

Dominic Puopolo's mother died on September 11 aboard American Airlines flight 11. Since then, Dominic has dedicated his life to obtaining justice for all the families that lost loved ones on 9/11. Believing that his presence could help sway a tribunal of three German judges to convict Mounir El Motassadeq, the only person convicted for the 9/11 hijackings, Dominic moved to Hamburg and lived there for a little over a year. Motassadeq is currently out on bail in Germany, his last conviction overturned for lack of evidence. Read an essay from Dominic Puopolo below:

The tremendous pain I feel daily varies, but there is never a full day that passes by that I have relief from the losses of that horrible day in September 2001. The loss of my innocent mother who was a beautiful, wonderful, talented woman was particularly hard for me because she was a giver in life and not a taker.

My beloved mother, Sonia Morales Puopolo, was tortured and killed on Sept. 11, 2001 while onboard American Airlines Flight 11 Seat 3J. Her words and advice were just a blueprint on how to live life, and were given with the true love only a parent can give their child. They were meant to prepare me for what lay ahead in life, after her death.

We were a changed family forever after that moment. In the first months, I did not really know what to do, but as other families started to organize in order to take their pain, anger, and losses and turn them around, I thought of what I could do to make a difference.

This promise was made in an email to family and friends from Logan Airport’s American Airlines Admirals club: I wrote that someday and somehow I would afford her justice. I knew, we, as a nation, would respond without hesitation militarily to hunt down the evil soulless cowards who took my mother and the thousands of other innocent Americans who were killed.

My plans to participate in finding justice became a reality. I watched three terrorist cases very carefully: Moussaoui, Mzoudi, and Motassadeq. I had decided to attend only the opening days of the Motassadeq trial for three days at the request of several of co-plaintiffs legal counsel, who told me bluntly the case was a difficult one to prove and they needed American co-plaintiffs to be more proactive.

Three days after trial I decided I did not think we would win. As hard as the German federal prosecutors worked on these cases, they were not willing to risk everything they had, as only a real family member would.

The terrorist retrial, which commenced one day after my mother would have turned 64, started last August 2004. I decided to move to Hamburg, Germany where the final planning and logistical support of the 9/11 attacks was executed by what we now know where fanatical jihadists.

MORE FROM DATELINE

Dateline Section Front

The Trouble At Twin Wrecks Read diving logs Shelley Tyre wrote The Secret Life of Tiger Woods The Trial of Amanda Knox NBC's People of the Year: Read the interviews The Night Mary Jane Disappeared The Friday the 13th Mystery Mystery at Lost Dog Road Slideshow: Photos in the Bob Duke case When The Smoke Clears Dateline Section Front   Add Dateline headlines to your news reader: