Gadhafi's Death Felt in West Nyack

Word of Moammar Gadhafi's death in Sirte Thursday morning is optimistic news for democratic people around the globe. But it's especially stirring at John and Barbara Zwynenburgs' West Nyack home.

The local couple lost their 29-year-old son, Mark, in the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, an attack that killed all 259 passengers aboard and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland—and was organized by Gadhafi.

"It's long overdue," said a relieved Barbara Zwynenburg this morning.

Her husband agreed. "It's interesting his own people did him in," he said. "You live by the sword, you die by the sword—he was a murderous thug." Gadhafi was reportedly killed by the home-grown rebels that wrenched the African nation from his control earlier this year.

The Zwynenburgs had last seen their son on Thanksgiving of 1988. He was working in London that year, and boarded flight 103 in December with the intention of joining his family for Christmas celebrations.

"He left in November saying, 'OK, see you at Christmas,'" Barabara Zwynenburg recalled. "We didn't see him at Christmas."

But his memory is very much alive in West Nyack, where a handful of his friends continue to visit and reminisce with his parents. "He was so smart, fun," his mother said.

The decades following the bombing were doubly difficult for the West Nyackers—while mourning their son's death, the two watched the international community embrace Gadhafi. Barbara and John took up signs and slogans, protesting outside Pan Am and decrying Gadhafi as a murderer.

"We did a lot of work," Barbara Zwynenburg recalled. "We wanted to see some justice."

The two were even present at the New York City UN Assembly two years ago, where Gadhafi was welcomed with handshakes and smiles. "It was disturbing," Barbara Zwynenburg said. 

But now the family says they have an element of peace, and without the loss of more American lives. "I'm glad we didn't send lots of troops over there," Barbara Zwynenburg said. "I'm very pleased."

Read more about Gadhafi's reported death here.