In October 1966, a landslide buried a school in Wales, known as the Aberfan disaster. On October 21, 1966 a massive colliery spoil tip (coal waste) on the slopes above the village of Aberfan became saturated with rain and collapsed, sending over 100,000 cubic meters of slurry, water, and debris into the town. The school was right in its way. Of the 144 people who died in the disaster, 116 were children, mostly between the ages of 7 and 10.
If you visit Aberfan (as we did), you can walk through a cemetery on that hill where the children were buried with their permanent portraits affixed to their graves. When I was there (about 15 years ago), the whole town felt like a shrine and the mood that hung in the air was somber and unmoving like "the still point in the turning world" that Eliot described in his "Burnt Norton".
On February 28, 2026, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, was destroyed by a missile strike on the first day of the 2026 Iran war, resulting in 175-180+ deaths, primarily schoolgirls. The attack involved three strikes, collapsing the roof, with investigations pointing to U.S. Armed Forces responsibility.
(The bombing of the school in Minab was the work of an American made, American launched Tomahawk missile.)
My heart links these two disasters. Both disasters are associated with instantaneous loss of many innocent children's lives - victims of a violent world.
In Aberfan, the violence was not from bombs but negligence, the dysfunction of the coal industry and, dare I say, bad karma.
Both disasters could have been avoided.
In Aberfan, the conditions for the disaster were building over time until it was inevitable. In the case of the the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, the conditions were strategic, based on intelligence (or misintelligence) and someone giving the order to fire. (The strike occurred amid wider US-Israel military operations, following an incident where US soldiers were killed in Kuwait.)
Iran's Minister of Education, Alireza Kazemi, announced that the destroyed school will be converted into a museum and memorial dedicated to the "student martyrs" who lost their lives. The site is set to be rebuilt with a special design symbolizing knowledge and sacrifice and it will be registered as a national heritage site.
The United States official response has been characterized by investigations, mixed public statements, and internal political pressure, i.e., initial denial and counter-accusation. (Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that investigations were underway but did not immediately accept responsibility, stating that the US does not target civilians.)
International organizations like Amnesty International have condemned the attack, calling on the US to hold those responsible accountable. . . The United States is very good at making martyrs.
I grieve the loss of so many children's lives in both the Aberfan and Minab disasters. And I am deeply ashamed, once again, to be an American.
In my own small way, I consider myself a martyr. I have always wondered what kind of person I would have been if I had lived my life in a truly free country, instead of in a militaristic state masquerading as a democracy.
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Afterthought:
I am reminded of this line that I wrote in my memoir (2018), "Finding myself in time: Facing the music":Are we still evolving or has our melodramatic history of transcendent highs and abysmal lows flat-lined?" I think it is time to ask ourselves this question.
(Article changed on Mar 21, 2026 at 10:52 AM EDT)
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