Brotherly Love In The Aftermath Of September 11
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In today's Brotherly Love, finding a silver lining after one of America's darkest days.
Michael Scott has always dreamed of being a pilot, and today he's living that dream.
"I'm really honored to be here and really lucky," Scott said.
Scott is now a Navy fighter pilot. But he needed the help of Melodie Homer to make his dream come true. She provides young people like Scott aviation scholarships through the LeRoy Homer Foundation.
"Right now I'm in a good frame of mind. I see my recipients," said Melodie. "I see the good that we've done," said Homer.
Good, after something so horrible. Melodie lost her husband, pilot LeRoy Homer. He was at the controls on board United Flight 93, the plane in the 9/11 attacks that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
"It makes me know that I'm doing my best to keep his memory alive," said Melodie.
His memory and his love of flight are kept alive through young pilots like Michael Scott and twelve other aviation scholarship recipients.
"This is something really amazing. That has happened from such a tragic event, with Melodie founding the foundation," said Scott.
Johanna Sigmund, 25, didn't fly, but you could say she had wings on her feet. Running was her passion.
"It's amazing. I don't know how anyone runs 26 miles," said her father John.
Ruth and John Sigmund of Wyndmoor say Johanna would run a marathon, then dance the night away.
"She was a really caring girl. That was part of her charm, really," said Ruth Sigmund.
"She had a spirit that was contagious when she was with people," said John Sigmund.
That spirit was taken away when the towers fell. Johanna worked in the North Tower. But her love of running and giving heart live on through the Run for Johanna Memorial Fund. Fellow marathon runners like Mollie Pickens raised $150,000 in scholarships for students at North Philadelphia's St. Malachy School. There's also a scholarship to attend Johanna's alma mater, the prestigious Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, where tuition is $27,000 a year.
"Which is not something my family could afford to do on their own," said Ashlei Tinsley.
Johanna's fund helped pay Ashlei Tinsley's tuition. She's now a sophomore at Syracuse majoring in biology and pre-med. She says the Sigmunds have made it possible for Johanna's giving spirit to live on.
"It was a good way to preserve your daughter's memory, and it just gives lots of other children chances and it helps people remember," said Ashlei.
"By helping with this scholarship we are developing a future. We are developing a legacy," said Ruth.
Two families, fighting through their pain of losing a loved, but creating something beautiful and everlasting.
"These are wonderful things to have as a legacy and as a future," said Ruth.
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Reported by Dave Huddleston, CBS 3
