The deliberate shooting down of the Malaysian plane may have been a case of mistaken identity of the plane -- thinking it was a Ukrainian military plane, one of which had been shot down three days earlier -- but there is no question it was a deliberate act of either terrorism or of war that involves Russia, at least to the extent of supplying the missiles, training the rebels to use them, and losing control of these separatist fighters in Ukraine.
Beyond that are the individual stories -- all the personal losses and tragedies. And we haven't even begun to hear about those yet.
When individual stories become an aggregate story of some group all traveling together or for some purpose, it takes on added dimensions of tragedy. Now we learn that around 100 of the passengers -- at least one-third of the total -- were researchers and activists headed to the World Health Organization's Conference on AIDS being held in Australia. President Bill Clinton is to be one of the speakers at the conference.
What makes this extra tragic is that so many people will have known, and lost, many of the people who died. And the devastating effect that such a cumulative loss can have on an organization.
In 1962, a group of 106 arts patrons from Atlanta had gone on a month long art tour of Europe. As their return flight took off from Paris's Orly Airport, the Air France plane crashed. The effect on Atlanta's arts community was devastating in terms of personal and leadership losses.
But Atlanta met the challenge. The Memorial Arts Center was built in their memory. It houses and supports the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Alliance Theater, the High Museum of Art and a school of art.
A suitable memorial to come out of this airplane tragedy could well be a major boost in funding for AIDS research and treatment in memory of those who died pursuing those goals.
Ralph
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