KEN CARYL - Capt. Jason Dahl was the captain of United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed in Shanksville, Penn., on Sept. 11, 2001. His widow Sandy says the day Osama bin Laden died brought back feelings she experienced the day her husband died.
It was the heroic actions of those on the plane that stopped it from going into a building, possibly the White House.
Capt. Dahl will always be close to his wife's heart. On Monday, Sandy Dahl wore her husband's flying wings on the lapel of her jacket. She says he earned those wings at a young age.
"He got the flying virus and soloed his plane before he got his driver's license," she said.
Sandy Dahl says the day Capt. Dahl died, along with the image of Osama bin Laden, have haunted her for the past nine years.
"I just knew that as long as he was out and able to, he would be trying to plot to kill others," Dahl said. "I asked for it for Christmas that he be caught. I've been waiting a long time simply because I knew."
She says she didn't expect to hear about bin Laden's death on Sunday night.
"I was actually in shock at the time, the same way that I was the day of 9/11. I was expecting to hear about Gadhafi in Libya," Dahl said. "I knew that our military was diligently searching for the most wanted man, but I was afraid he had died quietly somewhere, and we'd never know."
Dahl, who lives in Colorado, says she didn't sleep much the night of the announcement.
"I think Osama bin Laden and people like him, the leaders of the Taliban, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are cowards," she said. "They're boils on the backside of humanity, they're sitting in their mansions with their wives and children directing young, impressionable men to hate and kill. These people will have no chance at life, and they are the leaders of the band of terrorists, just sitting there plotting. They don't have the courage to do it themselves, so they recruit and put other people up to their horrible bidding."
She says it is bittersweet, because her husband, and the loved ones lost on 9/11 can't come back, but the man behind the attacks can't plan another terrorist attack.
"The wounds are opened everyday. I like to compare it with it heals a little bit, and then the bandage gets ripped off, and it heals a little bit. And that will probably go on for the rest of our lives," Dahl said.
Dahl says she knows that bin laden's death doesn't mean an end to terrorism.
"I trust our military 100 percent that they will be diligently following any leads that they find associated with him to quash his campaign of terror," Dahl said. "I'm relieved and there is trepidation, but I'm relieved that he's not the leader of the band anymore."
She says the memory of her husband, Jason, will live on.
"I know he's happy with this and I'm sure he's in a better place, and I believe Osama bin Laden is getting the justice he deserves now," Dahl said.
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