Lamar Fire Department is gifted 9/11 memorial scrapbook by Betty Blanco of La Junta

Lamar Fire Department Chief Jeremy Burkhart holding donated scrapbook from Betty Blanco, along with Fire Department employees and Doug Harbour (Tri-State 9/11 Memorial Foundation, third from right)

In 2005, the Lamar Fire Department acquired a fire truck with a somber past.  Lamar’s Quint 1 was previously in service as Arlington County, VA’s Quint 104.  Quint 104 was one of the firetrucks that responded to the Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Quint 1 still proudly serves the people of Lamar.  A “Quint” truck is a quintuple combination pumper, consisting of a pump, a water tank, a fire hose, a ladder or other aerial device, and ground ladders.  Lamar’s Quint 1 now bears decals on its windows in remembrance of 9/11.  One is a red, white and blue flag behind an eagle and the words “Operation Noble Eagle” A.C.F.D. 9-11-01, proudly served Arlington, Virginia”.  The other decal depicts two American flags and the words “Pride, Honor, Courage” as well as the widely used “343” number that honors the 343 New York City Firefighters who lost their lives during the collapse of the Twin Towers on that fateful day.

Lamar Quint 1 (formerly Quint 104) lined up for the 2024 9/11 Memorial Parade in Lamar (Photo courtesy of Lamar Fire and Emergency Services Facebook page)

Recently, the LFD was presented with a scrapbook of sorts, meticulously compiled by La Junta resident Betty Blanco with help from Angie Davis of Swink. The book has photos and stories about each of the firefighters killed that day.  When the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy arrived, Betty said she was disappointed that “nobody did anything”.  “We promised we’d never forget and what did we do?  We all forgot”.  It was then that she began her deep dive into the backgrounds of the souls lost and was looking for ways to honor them. Betty is a local historian who has done vast research about the 9/11 tragedy, particularly focusing on lives lost who had Colorado ties.  She tells me that the scrapbook was “a long time coming – I’d been interested in doing it for a long time”.  When she heard that the LFD had acquired a fire truck with a storied 9/11 past, she knew the book needed to belong to the Department.

Betty initially learned that 7 Colorado people were among the victims but that number has grown to 30 with ties to our state after further research.  She has also compiled a story board about all the Colorado people and it has garnered great interest everywhere it has been displayed, as people linger to read the stories and see the faces of those lost. She spoke reverently about the fated flights and the Colorado passengers they carried that day, telling me remarkable details about those people as she reflected on the many accomplishments they had already made as well as the sadness of those lives being cut short. The following are just a few of the stories she shared about lives lost with ties to our state.

Betty Blanco (right), poses with LFD Employees and Quint 1 (photo by Angie Davis)

American Airlines Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the North Tower that day and carried 3 passengers with ties to Colorado.  One, Charles “Chuck” Jones was a retired U.S. Air Force officer who had trained for the military’s Manned Spaceflight Engineers program.  His flight was canceled after the Challenger accident.  Another was 31 year old Daniel Lewin, who grew up in Denver but moved to Israel with his parents when he was 14.  Daniel spoke 3 languages, one of which was Arabic, so he quickly interpreted what the hijackers were saying as he sat among them on the plane that day.  He was stabbed to death by one of the terrorists, making him the first victim of the September 11 attacks.

United Flight 175 was then flown into the second of the Twin Towers and was carrying Kathryn Yancey LaBorie, who graduated from Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs.  Kathryn worked in marketing at Denver’s airport and eventually became a flight attendant.  She was the head flight attendant on the plane the day of the attacks, working in First Class where the terrorists were seated.  Her father, an artist, donates paintings each year to Mitchell’s yearly memorial service  in honor of LaBorie and the proceeds raised from the auction benefit scholarships for the school’s ROTC program.

American Airlines Flight 77 was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon and carried 64 souls, 8 of whom had Colorado ties, including the Falkenberg family (Charles and Leslie and their two daughters Zoey, age 8 and Dana, age 3.  Charles and Leslie graduated from East High School in Denver.  Charles developed software and managed NASA databases while Leslie had a PhD from CU Boulder and was Associate Dean at Georgetown University in D.C.  Also on board Flight 77 was Yeneneh Betru, a 35 year old physician who had immigrated to the United States in 1982 and graduated from Holy Cross Abbey High School in Canon City, later graduating from Loyola Marymount College in California and from medical school at the University of Michigan. Betru had always dreamed of being a doctor and had promised his grandmother that he would cure her of all her ailments as she grew older.  Sadly, she passed in Ethiopia of kidney failure with Betru by her side when no medical equipment was available.  Betru vowed to help and later created a kidney dialysis unit in his home town of Addis Ababa, paying for and donating six dialysis machines and supplies.  Chad Chandler, who earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering from CU Boulder was also on Flight 77.  Chad, a propulsion specialist at Boeing, had been inside the Pentagon the day before the attack (ironically teaching a seminar on how to use satellite technology to tract terrorists) but died that day at age 29.  In 2019, the upcoming commander of an expedition heading to the International Space Station knew of Chad’s interest in rocketry and approached the family to ask if “Chad would like to go along for the ride”.  The family organized a collection of photos of Chad, CU and Boeing mementos and some of Chad’s ashes so that he could go to space posthumously, his photo taped to one of the windows so he could look down at Earth.

The fourth airliner hijacked by the terrorists that day was United’s Flight 93, which crashed near Somerset County, Pennsylvania killing all 44 passengers, crew members and the four terrorists who had attempted to direct the plane to the U.S. Capitol. The brave actions of pilot Captain Jason Dahl (a United pilot out of Denver) and First Officer LeRoy Homer, Jr. (a graduate of the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs) saved countless lives that day as they resisted the hijackers by jamming the controls of the plane after learning of the other flights crashing.  Ms. Blanco, in telling me their story, wanted to state that these men often are overlooked as heroes as they weren’t First Responders.  Clearly, their quick thinking (knowing their deaths were imminent) puts them squarely into hero category that day.

Betty Blanco placing memorial on Yeneneh Betru’s Memorial Unit at the Pentagon (Photo by Will Wesley)

Ms. Blanco visited the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in January alongside her son and grandson.  The Memorial, according to its website, “captures that moment in time at 9:37 a.m. when 184 lives became intertwined for eternity.  Each victim’s age and location at the time of the attack have been permanently inscribed into the Memorial by the unique placement and direction of each of the 184 Memorial Units”.  The Units are stainless steel strips that are inlaid with granite and have reflective pools. At the units memorializing the 59 lives lost on flight 77, visitors see the victim’s name and the direction of the plane’s approach in the same view.  While at the Memorial, Ms. Blanco lovingly placed a laminated sheet on the Unit of each of the victims with Colorado connections or roots.  The sheets displayed a photo of the victim as well as telling their personal history, along with an attached card reading “Never Forgotten”.  More information about the Memorial can be found at www.pentagonmemorial.org

National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial (Photo by Will Wesley)

Ms. Blanco, active in all the local 9/11 Memorial events, is continually learning more about the events of the day and the stories of the victims in her quest to solidify their places in history.  She, like Doug Harbour of Lamar’s Tri-State 9/11 Memorial Foundation, wants the younger generations and all that follow to remember what happened that dark day in US History.  She mourns the lives lost as well as what the world lost in terms of future contributions by them.  2026 will mark the 25th Anniversary of the tragedy and she is looking forward to seeing the newest statue at the Tri-State Memorial unveiled in Lamar (Will Jimeno, Port Authority First Responder) as well as the many events planned for next year in both La Junta and Lamar.  In talking about Lamar’s Memorial, she said “God Bless Doug Harbour and all he’s done to memorialize these victims” but I’d like to add “God Bless Betty Blanco” as well.  It is only through their selfless dedication and tireless work that these victims will continue to be honored and remembered for many years to come.

By: Barbara Crimond