Lindley Estes writes about Spotsylvania County schools, King George County Schools and other issues of interest to the community.
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Sept. 11: Remembering children and educators killed at the Pentagon
It was a Tuesday morning 11 years ago when jetliners originating on the East Coast were hijacked to carry out a murderous campaign of terror against citizens of the United States.
The Sept. 11 attacks claimed the lives of school children, service members, firefighters, police officers, civilians, flight crews and at least three educators, and forever changed the lives of Americans.
Today, let’s pause to remember those who were killed, but let us not forget the survivors, those who carry on with scars both visible and invisible.
When American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon, 184 people perished on the jetliner and inside the headquarters of the nation’s defense.
They were our neighbors, our relatives, our friends.
The Pentagon Memorial was created to remember their lives. The memorial web site includes biographies of each person killed.
Below are the youngest, one too young to even have begun school. Their biographies, and those of others killed at the Pentagon that day are available at the memorial’s web site, which also contains links for the tragedies at the World Trade Center and the story of the heroic actions of the passengers on United Flight 93. (The photos come courtesy of the memorial web site.)
The Falkenbergs: parents Charles and Leslie, and daughters, Zoe, 3, and Dana, 8.
Zoe Falkenberg, 3, and her big sister, Dana Falkenberg, 8, were headed with their parents – Charles and Leslie Falkenberg – to Australia. Dana was a student at University Park Elementary in University Park, Md.
Bernard C. Brown II, age 11
Bernard C. Brown II, 11, was a sixth grader at Leckie Elementary School in Southeast Washington who had been selected to travel to California for a National Geographic program.
Asia S. Cottom, 11
Asia Cottom, also 11, was a sixth grader from Bertie Backus Middle School in Northeast Washington who had also been chosen for the National Geographic conference and was traveling with her teacher.
Rodney Dickens, 11
Rodney Dickens, 11, was a sixth grader and honor roll student from Ketcham Elementary School in Washington, D.C., also traveling with his teacher to California.
Sara M. Clark, elementary school teacher
Sara M. Clark, 65, had taught in D.C. public schools for 37 years. The Backus Middle School teacher was chaperoning the children to the conference in Santa Barbara.
Hilda E. Taylor, teacher
Hilda E. Taylor, was a sixth-grade teacher at Leckie Elementary School who was also accompanying the children to California.
J. Joseph Ferguson, educator
J. Joseph Ferguson, 39, served as director of geography education outreach at the National Geographic Society and was accompanying the three students and three teachers on the trip sponsored by the Society.
Ann C. Judge
