SEATTLE, (Reuters Life!) – An American teacher who vowed after the September 11 attacks not to shave until Osama bin Laden was captured or killed, finally cut off his beard when he heard the news the al Qaeda leader was dead.
Gary Weddle, a 50-year-old middle school teacher from the state of Washington whose beard had reached some 15 inches (38 cm) long, said he began cutting his facial hair for the first time in nearly a decade on Sunday night.
“I’m still very emotional about this, about all of the death and destruction,” Weddle said in an interview. “I’m finally getting closure on this.”
Weddle, who lives in East Wenatchee, Washington, said he was determined not to shave or trim his beard in the days following September 11, 2001 after reading that in Afghanistan, Taliban leaders would execute men for shaving their beards.
“I’m a God-fearing man,” Weddle said, recalling how horrified he was “knowing that thousands of people were getting crushed” during the attacks.
“I didn’t want to forget. I wasn’t going to forget,” he said.
Weddle was honored on Monday by Jill Palmquist, principal of the middle school where he teaches, who announced to students over the loudspeaker that Weddle had kept his promise to honor the lives lost.
