30 years ago I was in charge of the Crisis Response Team for the 100 Olympic Games in Atlanta. I had the opportunity to work with brilliant and devoted experts. We had trained and prepared for a mass event at all of venues but specifically we trained for a bomb in Centennial Park. When both my beepers and my Crime Commission cell phone went off all at once - I knew something catastrophic had occurred. We responded just as we had planned and prepared for. We set up our command center, had CRT members at every hospital, the crime scene and APD Command Center. We provided crisis management to every single victim, witness and law enforcement officer that wanted it. I was on scene just before 2AM. After 11 hours I was sent to met with the Hawthorn family, specifically the 14 year old victim, Fallon Stubbs who was just out of surgery. Fallon was the youngest daughter of Alice Hawthorne, a 44-year-old Albany businesswoman who was the only person to die when the pipe bomb hidden in a backpack exploded at 1:20 a.m. on July 27, 1996. We were talking with Fallon who had just gotten back to her room from surgery and in walks in Ambassador Andrew Young, Dr. Joseph Lowery and Rev. Jesse Jackson. They prayed with her and talked lovingly about the legacy of her mom.
Fallon and I are still in contact. We touch base every year on this date and I can tell you she is still one of the bravest, kindest and strongest people I’ve ever met.