A most remarkable moment: 9/11 victim is identified after 22 years
John Ballantine Niven in a family photograph. Credit: Ellen Niven
Something remarkable happened this week.
More than 22 years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, New York City officials said they had identified one set of remains as a man from Oyster Bay.
John Ballantine Niven was 44 when he died in the south tower, one of the 2,753 people who lost their lives at Ground Zero that day, and one of the 1,104 who had not been identified before last week.
But naming Niven wasn't just a matter of ticking another name off a list.
Scientists involved in the effort had identified two other sets of remains last year, shortly before the 9/11 anniversary. Sated as we are on a diet of impossible events in superhero, sci-fi and action movies, some might shrug at these moments as being routine, when they are anything but that. Discoveries like this are extraordinary. And the fact that such identifications might become more commonplace as the technology that enables them continues to advance does not diminish the achievement.
Not so long ago, this was indeed science fiction. DNA degrades over time, and there was nothing humans could do about that. But developments since Sept. 11 in next-generation sequencing technology, mitochondrial DNA analysis, and other high-tech processes have made possible moments like the identification of Niven, moments that showcase science at its best, when it works in the service of humanity.
The benefits begin with Niven's family, which now has the intensely emotional closure it had been seeking. As his wife, Ellen Niven, told Newsday in an email, “We have a grave site where we buried a box of mementos, and will now be able to bury part of him, which is meaningful for us. Too many people around the world right now do not have this.”
For his son, John, 18 months old when his father perished, the news seemed to reinforce a faith in humanity when he said that “it means so much to see how New Yorkers have stayed true to the 'never forget' promise.”
The benefits ripple outward to the rest of us. The news about Niven had the powerful effect of helping to keep in our minds the memory of what happened on that awful day. It reminded us of the horrifying consequences of evil turning into action and the sacrifices made by scores of people in the immediate aftermath and the months and years that followed, sacrifices that sadly continue to this day.
It also was a reminder that remarkable developments surround us daily. Our ability to produce them defines us as humans.
The same technology that identified John Ballantine Niven and the remains of American soldiers as far back as the Korean War also has helped make the case against suspect Rex Heuermann in the Gilgo Beach murders. It's an example of how the best of humankind helps to root out the worst of humankind.
New mRNA technology enabled the speedy development of lifesaving vaccines that saved millions during the COVID-19 pandemic. New laser technology known as LIDAR has been used to uncover “lost” cities in rainforests and jungles throughout Central and South America in recent years, increasing our understanding of our own history and evolution. Doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig's heart into a man dying of heart disease, giving him six more weeks of life and all of us optimism about further advancements. And various nations are pushing farther into space with probes and landers and cameras that send back images that previously were inconceivable.
Some advances amaze us. Some fill us with hope. Some give us a poignant pause.
But all are confirmation: We do live in remarkable times.
Columnist Michael Dobie's opinions are his own.
Michael Dobie is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
