Woman’s links to 9-11 many Mainer tells stories of family members’ narrow escapes

EAST MILLINOCKET – The tragic events of Sept. 11 aren’t something Margaret “Peg” Cousins of East Millinocket will soon forget because it affected so many people in her family.

Lots of telephone calls were made among family members that day trying to make sure everyone was safe.

One nephew worked in the area of the World Trade Center in New York City. “Fortunately the only thing he had to do was walk about three miles home,” she recalled.

Another nephew was driving through the city and saw ambulances after the first plane smashed into the twin towers.

A sister-in-law and several children were driving to New Jersey to see relatives who had arrived for a visit from Venezuela. A young nephew fell ill, so a brother canceled his Boston flight, the same one that crashed.

“I have a niece and a nephew who live in New York City, so of course our whole family was worried about them,” she said. Today, that nephew still resides there, but her niece’s family has moved back to Maine.

“We lost people from here in Maine, a happy couple from Washington County on a wonderful trip to California,” she said, referring to a couple from Lubec who died in one of the 9-11 plane crashes. “That affected me emotionally.”

The retired health educator, who teaches piano, said she believes President Bush acted promptly and correctly after the mass destruction of buildings and loss of lives.

“It was of such a grand scale that actually caused us to really wonder what is next and what should we do,” said Cousins.

“I think the government should continue to seek out individuals, the terrorist groups or even governments, who might be responsible, but I do not agree with every day hearing about the plans for war and invasion,” she said. “We should not invade another country until we have a very good idea that the country was behind the attack. I think the average person on the street feels pretty much the way I do, we don’t want to go to war, and we should take every means to prevent it. I feel we could better promote peace by quiet diplomacy.”

Cousins is not a frequent flier, but admits the tragic events of last year have changed her attitude about flying in an airplane. Last fall, a friend in Denver wanted her to visit, but Cousins didn’t want to fly. She considered taking a train, but ended up not traveling.

“I’m fearful that the plane might be crashed or someone might be in it to blow it up,” she said. “I don’t want to be suspicious of everyone I see because that again sets off an environment whereby you don’t trust anyone and you don’t talk with anyone, and I have always been friendly with people. I don’t want to have to spy on my neighbors and I don’t want to have to report things that seem to be something out of the ordinary,” said Cousins.