The Toll of a Terrorist

"I was 11 years old, and I remember the day we took him to the airport," Roseanne Nenninger told me. "It was a big event for the family, and we all took the day off from school. I remember watching him walk across the tarmac to get on the plane." Then came the awful news a few hours later. The president of Guyana came to the Persaud house to offer condolences.

Charles Persaud moved the family to Queens in 1979, supporting his wife and five surviving children by teaching in the New York City public schools. He never recovered from losing Raymond, though, thinking and writing obsessively about the bombing. He died of a heart attack two years ago.

When family members read about Luis Posada last month, it was as if Raymond, once again, were just turning to wave from the steps of the plane.

"It all came back," Nenninger said. "I found myself crying, just crying. . . . It made me think about all those people who lost loved ones on 9/11."

According to an FBI cable, when one of the underlings sent to place the explosives on the plane telephoned to report success, he spoke in code: "A bus with 73 dogs went off a cliff and all got killed."

eugenerobinson@washpost.com