American Airlines employee ran in remembrance of `family' Cindee Tarasuk-Morgado part of team completing Boston-Los Angeles trip to honour those who died in Sept. 11 crashes By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Oakville's Cindee Tarasuk-Morgado knew what had to be done. She had to help complete the flight of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. So she did, by running in the Americans United Flag Across America Run, that's completing the flights of airlines that were crashed by terrorists on Sept. 11. The coast-to-coast run is in honour of passengers, crew and others lost in the Sep. 11 attacks. Employees from American Airlines, United Airlines, the U.S. military and thousands of others began running the U.S. flag from Boston-- the city where both flights originated-- on Oct. 11, to their Los Angeles destination on Nov. 11, Veterans' Day, the United States equivalent to Canada's Remembrance Day. Tarasuk-Morgado spent 3,.5 hours running 25 miles of the Texas leg of that flight path on Sunday. She has worked for American Airlines for 14 years. The Toronto native works operations at Pearson International Airport where she specializes in checking and bal ancing airplane, baggage and passenger weight load. While Tarasuk-Morgado personally knew only the first offi cer of the American Airlines flight, she said she was sure she'd crossed paths, traded chit chat or compared notes on kids with many of the lost crew members over her years with American Airlines. "We're one big family and it hurts when anything happens," said Tarasuk-Morgado, a sports enthusiast who often runs in marathons and trains regularly at the International Fitness Centre and Total Balance. It was tough for the mother-of-three to leave her kids -- Allegra Tate, 7; Sean Paris, 5; and, Casey Turner, 3 -- for the run. "When I got home, I thanked by husband from the bottom of my heart for letting me go and do this," said TarasukMorgado. Victor Morgado owns Shady Tree Books in down town Oakville. "The real purpose was to complete the flight for those peo ple who we lost," said Tarasuk-Morgado. While Tarasuk-Morgado wore a Canadian flag on her shirt, runners bear the American flag-- one flown in a U.S. F-16 cockpit in Operation Southern Watch over Iraq on Oct. 2,2001. Run proceeds will benefit the victims of September 11, including families of lost airline crew. The flag is being carried around the clock through Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. U.S. military personnel and federal employees were involved through Washington. Tarasuk-Morgado began her run at 1 a.m. on Sun. Oct. 28 from an Irving, Texas shopping mall. "I just kept going. My heart was just there, it was so emo tional. I had so much energy in me because of the emotions," she said. The Oakvillian broke down recalling the watergun salute given at the Dallas airport shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday. An American Airlines plane and a United Airlines plane were brought nose-to-nose on the runway. Fire trucks pulled alongside and sprayed water in an arch over the two planes. In the business, it's what's done when a captain retires, to mark the departure of his final flight. "They were retiring the flight numbers," said TarasukMorgado tearfully. After a Pledge of Allegiance, a rendition of the national anthem and a prayer, the marathon was back on the road. It's as vivid in Tarasuk-Morgado's mind, as watching the planes burst into flames as they were crashed by terrorists into the World Trade Center. Tarasuk-Morgado said she was due at work at 11 a.m. that morning, when a neighbour, a Canadian Airlines captain, called and she watched horrified as the terrorism unfolded on TV. "I just felt disbelief," remembers the runner. "I thought of the crew and passengers. Over 14 years I'm sure some of them came through my station, that we talked, we laughed, discussed our children. We're like a big family." Drained emotionally, and physically, Tarasuk-Morgado arrived home late Sunday. Not all runners were marathoners like herself, some ran only a mile. "People were running from their heart," she said, recall ing how crowds cheered and motorists honked and waved. Tarasuk-Morgado wrapped up her effort in Louisville, Texas 3 hours and 36 minutes after starting. "We begin on Oct. 11, leaving the departure city of Boston, just as Flight 11 and Flight 175 did, and we head to LAX-- the destination of three of the four aircraft-- in order to symboli cally 'finish the trip' for our fallen comrades. Along the route, we will pass through each state that witnessed the separate The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 31, 2001 - A 3 tragedies," said American Airlines First O fficer Todd W issing as the run kicked off at B o sto n 's Logan Airport. The run was the idea o f A m erican A irlines First Officer Mike Burr. "As I read about Jim O gonow ski's eulogy for his brother John, who was the Captain of A m erican A irlines Flight 11, I was struck by his com m ent that "by hitting A m erican and United, the terror ists really created an `America U nited'. "I decided there was no better way to get the country on the "road to recovery" than by get ting out on the road, litPhoto by Riziero Vertolli erally waving the flag Cindee Tarasuk-Morgado home from sea to shining a ^te r her race: Sept. 11 affected Cindee on race day on weekend: completing the flight for those lost on Sept. sea," said Burr. " every member of h e r `fam ily' n U PG RA D E TO WINDOWS*1 ' AVAILABLE NOW! 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