Osama bin Laden Death Resonates in Fairlawn and Bath

President Barack Obama told the world Sunday that Osama bin Laden was dead as the result of an attack by U.S. military forces. The president gave the go-ahead for the strike on the bin Laden compound in Pakistan last week. Officials have apparently known of bin Laden's location since last August.

In his address to America, Obama spoke of of a kind of closure: "On nights like this one, we can say to families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida terror — justice has been done." 

News reports have described a "jubilant" mood in Washington DC, Shanksville, PA and New York City, where about 3,000 were killed in 9/11 attacks.

Fairlawn-Patch Patch reporters found feelings of relief, pragmatism and pride when they talked to people about bin Laden's death. For some, the news brought back memories of what they were doing on Sept. 11.

What's your reaction? 

• Sean Yost, shopper at Summit Mall: "I definitely would prefer he (Osama bin Laden) was captured, to get a chance to see him go through the process, to actually deal with what he'd done. But least it's over now with him."
• Ketan Parekh, regional vice president, Primerica Financial Services: "I don't think (al-Qaida) will (retaliate) because I think their structure has been dismantled and hollowed out quite a bit over the years, so I think we're taking care of business." 
• Pam Beals, director, volunteer center, United Way of Summit County: "All of the news about bin Laden does make one think back to where we were when we first heard the news about the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and then Flight 93. 

"I was sitting right here at my desk getting prepared for our Volunteer Center Advisory Committee meeting, when I heard from one of our coworkers say something about a plane crashing into one of the Towers.  I honestly didn’t think anything about it, other than thinking the plane must have been damaged, off course or something like that.  Then, when I heard another plan hit the other Tower, I realized something was way, way wrong.  And, then, it all came crashing down, literally, along with the news of the Pentagon and Flight 93. 

"I thought the United States was under attack, just like Pearl Harbor.  We cancelled the Advisory Committee and called all the members to advise them.  The rest of the day and days, weeks following was just so surreal and a feeling of being so vulnerable.”

• Michael McNeely, Bath Township Police Chief: "I was at a meeting in Richfield that day. There were a lot of law enforcement people there because it was a dedication of the new BCI (Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation). Everybody just took off.

"I spent 13 years at the DC police department and two years at the FBI there as a clerk, so I was familiar with all the different locations, and my wife's relatives work at the Pentagon and live about eight miles away.

"Last night I was actually quite surprised to hear bin Laden was dead. I had no idea what the president was going to speak about.

"I am very interested to hear how it all took place, and like everyone else we're aniticipating what will be the next step of the terrorists.

"I think it’s very important that we got him. It's important to the families who suffered losses on 9/11 and to the families who have lost loved ones who were soldiers in the last 10 years.  It's also symbolic -- that we got the head of the (al- Qaida) organization."

• Cameron Ryba, principal, Copley High School:  Social studies teachers will discuss the president's announcement as part of their course. World news is a common part of the curriculum, but because the news broke late Sunday teachers are getting up to speed in a short amount of time.  Teachers also need to find a way to make the news relevant to students, the oldest of whom were in second grade on Sept. 11, 2001. The class discussions that take place today will also include the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which led to the rise on bin Laden.