Voices

“I hope all Americans today will be grateful for what all the people who were on that plane did, for the military personnel, for the business leaders, who didn’t have to go on that mission, who did it not out of a sense of their own profit, but out of a sense of what they could do to help America bring peace.”

--President Clinton, addressing Commerce Department employees.

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“Ron has been a faithful public servant. He was in his full stride, traveling across the world, connecting people, building a communication network for economic growth which he thought was a hope for the country.”

--The Rev. Jesse Jackson

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“He was on a reconstruction mission, a trade mission to Bosnia. I’m so sorry it happened,”

--Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)

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“Conditions were very bad. Wind was . . . not too strong but visibility was poor--about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) which is very bad. Vertical visibility was 300 feet (90 meters), which is extremely bad. Coupled with pouring rain it’s extremely bad conditions.”

--An official at Zagreb’s airport weather service

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“I saw the plane standing there. And I saw no signs of life.”

--Ivo Djuricic, a 53-year-old villager who was nearby at the time of the crash.

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“Mr. President, I and the entire Croatian nation are feeling our deepest sympathies in this moment of pain.”

--Croatia President Franjo Tudjman, in a cable to Clinton

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“We can only hope that reports of survivors are true and that more are found.”

--Air Force Lt. Gen. Howell Estes

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“I was devastated to hear of the crash. . . . He [Brown] has been a leader for all Americans to admire.”

--Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.).