Community Corner

Groton Student Recalls A Friend He Lost On 9/11

Juliana Valentine McCourt was four years old

Somewhere in his house, Elijah Pysyk, 16, has a picture of himself with a little girl standing on the back porch.

He's 5 years old; she's 4.

She was his best friend at the time, and she was in one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.

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Her name was Juliana Valentine McCourt. She was one of the youngest victims of the 9/11 attacks and was flying to Disneyland with her mother, Ruth McCourt, of New London.

Pysyk, a student at Ella T. Grasso Technical High School in Groton, recalled his friend after a ceremony held at the school this morning to commemorate 9/11. 

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They were both so young; it's hard for him to remember much.

His grandparents were friends with Juliana's parents and grandparents, he said. They did everything together. She lived down the street, he said.

“We grew up together,” he said.

Pysyk said he knew his friend was going to Disneyland, but not more about the trip.

He said his grandmother was the one who told him what happened, though he doesn’t remember what she said. He doesn't remember how he reacted.

“It’s a blur,” he said.

But Pysyk said September 11 is more significant to him because of this loss.

“It’s on a personal level I feel (it)” he said.


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