EgyptAir Memorial

N E W P O R T, R.I., Oct. 31 -- A smashed camera lens. A suitcase that smelled of jet fuel. A passport.

For a year, relatives of the 217 victims of EgyptAir Flight 990clung to these spare reminders of their loved ones’ last moments.

Today, the first anniversary of the crash, families willhave something more: a granite memorial in a seaside Newport park.

More than 500 relatives, friends and dignitaries were expectedat a service marking the day the Boeing 767 plunged into the oceanoff the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.

“The service will be very emotional, but it’s something youhave to go through,” said Jeff Kowalsky of Detroit, whose parentswere killed.

Rain fell as families boarded buses to reach the memorial site.Gov. Lincoln Almond ordered all state flags flown at half-staff forthe day.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall hasbeen invited to speak, along with victims’ family members.

A Painful Journey

The monument is roughly hewn on three of its four sides,symbolizing the families’ pain and their difficult journey sincethe crash.

The inscription in gold lettering on a black background reads,“In loving memory of the 217 family members and friends lost onEgyptAir Flight 990. … May God’s eternal light shine upon them.”

The final phrase, “They are not gone from us,” is inscribed inFrench, Arabic and English.

On the ground before the monument are 217 bricks etched with thenames of those who died aboard the flight.

“There’s nothing beautiful about it,” said Jack Afonso ofRiverside Stone Co., who created the monument. “This is tocommemorate the dead.”

Beyond the monument is a panoramic view of the ocean, the soundof the waves lapping against the rocks a few hundred feet in thedistance. Newport was where families gathered immediately after thecrash as they awaited word from rescue crews.

Five coffins of the unidentified remains recovered from thecrash site have already been buried in the Island Cemetery. A sixthwas to be buried today in a private service for the families.