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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Sisters of 9/11 activist widow walk similar path By CAROLYN THOMPSON,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, September 5 EAST AURORA, N.Y. - None of the Eckert sisters ever envisioned walking the halls of Congress, advocating to right wrongs to protect the country from tragedy. ADVERTISEMENT Not Beverly Eckert, a Stamford, Conn., insurance executive before she lost her husband of 21 years on Sept. 11, 2001. Not Karen Eckert or Susan Bourque, her sisters back home in Buffalo, before Beverly's death in a plane crash earlier this year. Yet it's the path all would take, that of reluctant but determined advocate: First Beverly as one of the most visible faces pushing to fix problems exposed by the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Now her sisters, taking on aviation safety following the Feb. 12 crash of Beverly's plane, Continental Connection Flight 3407, near Buffalo. She and 49 others died. "I didn't want anybody thinking, oh, there's this professional advocacy family stepping forward again, they're rabble-rousers," Karen Eckert said, describing her initial reluctance. "Or have people think we're using (Beverly)," Bourque added. Yet after Beverly's death they found themselves, like she had, in a position to be effective advocates, unburdened at home by the demands of young children and with enough knowledge and passion to drive them through their grief toward action. "Can you imagine if it was one of us who died in the crash, what Beverly would have done?" Karen Eckert asked. Inside Bourque's East Aurora home _ the yard where Beverly and Sean Rooney were married visible through the back window _ the sisters are quick to point out that they, like Beverly, are not alone in their advocacy. Other Flight 3407 families, they said, are also regulars in Washington on their own dime and own time. There is, however, no denying that the Eckert sisters' story is a unique one, intertwining the tragedies of 9/11 and Flight 3407 and the lessons to be learned from each. "The reason (Beverly) was even on that plane was 9/11," Bourque said, noting she was on her way to her hometown to celebrate what would have been her husband's 58th birthday with their families. Beverly also planned to award an annual scholarship in his name at Rooney's alma mater, Canisius High School. On this year's anniversary of the attacks, the Voices of September 11th group Eckert co-founded with fellow Connecticut widow Mary Fetchet will present its annual "Building Bridges Award" posthumously to Eckert. Her sisters will accept it on her behalf. Just a week before she died, Beverly Eckert was at the White House with Barack Obama as the president met with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the administration would handle terror suspects. Although she enjoyed a more private life after seeing the 9/11 Commission complete its work, she was easing back into an advocacy role, her sisters said, joining other 9/11 family members in a new public-awareness campaign focused on preparing against weapons of mass destruction. Her sisters insist the plane crash did not silence Beverly's voice or spirit. "If anything, she would want us to have her voice ... I want her voice to resonate," Karen Eckert said. It already has in the way it has opened doors of senators and representatives to 3407 families. Many knew Beverly, or knew of her. Her voice resonates in the minds of her sisters, too: whenever they present their fact- and solution-driven case for better pilot training and hiring practices, fatigue management and closer government oversight of the airline industry. "We have an agenda. The one thing we knew is we can't just go there and say `please help us because we loved our loved ones,'" Karen Eckert said. "We knew we had to be organized," Bourque said, recalling Beverly's ability to boil down issues to talking points which she could take to lawmakers. "Who's telling the truth and who's dodging?" they wonder, as Beverly had, during hearings like one held on the crash in May by the National Transportation Safety Board. Their experience as government workers _ Karen retired in May from the Department of Homeland Security and Bourque managed a Social Security office _ has given the sisters a window into how government works and a belief that it is not the enemy. Yet they know from Beverly's experience that an issue can lose momentum as quickly as it gains it _ so they press hard for passage of a bill to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration operations because it includes many safety recommendations they favor. Next week, they'll discuss the measure in Washington with a representative of the Senate Finance Committee before driving to New York City for the 9/11 events. While not certain they will achieve all of their goals, the sisters have learned from Beverly Eckert that ordinary citizens can effect meaningful change. "It can be done," Susan Bourque said, a copy of the thick 9/11 Commission report, supported by her deceased sister, on the coffee table. The 9/11 family group is credited with getting sweeping reforms of the U.S. intelligence apparatus passed in 2004. "We can get in there and it's amazing that it's really a government by the people, for the people," Karen Eckert said. They recalled NBC newsman Tom Brokaw flying to Buffalo after Beverly's death for a "Making a Difference" segment on the "Nightly News." "That's our motto," Bourque said. "You've got to make a difference. You don't even have a choice." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: World Deputies breaking for cup of joe spot suspectsAP - 1 hour 49 minutes ago Afghans mourn dead under outcry of NATO bombingAFP - 1 hour 49 minutes ago Caribbean islands crack down on illegal immigrantsAP - 1 hour 56 minutes ago The West Bank Jewish settlement of Beitar Ilit is seen through a barbed wire fence, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expectAP - 2 hours 21 minutes ago Opposition says to boycott CAR election bodyAFP - 2 hours 32 minutes ago Most Popular – World Viewed Poignant final farewell as Jackson laid to rest Chappaquiddick 'haunts me,' Kennedy said World heading for climate 'abyss': UN chief First baby born from new egg-screening technique US unemployment hits 9.7%, job losses narrow further View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

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