Memorial~American Airlines Flight 77

IdahoMom

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A few posters last week said they would like to learn more about those who perished (were murdered, actually) on the doomed flights the morning of 9-11.

I will post a list of passengers for this flight, and if ya'll would like to share what you know, or pick a passenger and post a profile (with picture would be nice), that would be great.

There are so many stories to be told, and so many lives cut short senselessly.

PLEASE KEEP POLITICAL BS OFF THESE THREADS. THERE IS A SPECIFIC PLACE HERE AT WS FOR THAT.
 
CREW

Charles Burlingame of Herndon, Virginia, was the plane's captain.

David Charlebois, who lived in Washington's Dupont Circle neighborhood, was the first officer on the flight.

Michele Heidenberger of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was a flight attendant for 30 years.

Flight attendant Jennifer Lewis, 38, of Culpeper, Virginia, was the wife of flight attendant Kenneth Lewis.

Flight attendant Kenneth Lewis, 49, of Culpeper, Virginia, was the husband of flight attendant Jennifer Lewis.

Renee May, 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, was a flight attendant.

PASSENGERS

Paul Ambrose, 32, of Washington, was a physician.

Yeneneh Betru, 35, was from Burbank, California.

M.J. Booth

Bernard Brown, 11, was a student at Leckie Elementary School in Washington.

Suzanne Calley, 42, of San Martin, California, was an employee of Cisco Systems Inc.

William Caswell

Sarah Clark, 65, of Columbia, Maryland, was a sixth-grade teacher at Backus Middle School in Washington.

Asia Cottom, 11, was a student at Backus Middle School in Washington.

James Debeuneure, 58, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was a fifth-grade teacher at Ketcham Elementary School in Washington.

Rodney Dickens, 11, was a student at Leckie Elementary School in Washington.

Eddie Dillard

Charles Droz

Barbara Edwards, 58, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was a teacher.

Charles S. Falkenberg, 45, of University Park, Maryland, was the director of research at ECOlogic Corp.

Zoe Falkenberg, 8, of University Park, Maryland.

Dana Falkenberg, 3, of University Park, Maryland, was the daughter of Charles Falkenberg and Leslie Whittingham.

Joe Ferguson was the director of the National Geographic Society's geography education outreach program in Washington.

Wilson "Bud" Flagg of Millwood, Virginia, was a retired Navy admiral and retired American Airlines pilot.

Dee Flagg

Richard Gabriel

Ian Gray, 55, of Washington was the president of a health-care consulting firm.

Stanley Hall, 68, was from Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Bryan Jack, 48, of Alexandria, Virginia, was a senior executive at the Defense Department.

Steven D. "Jake" Jacoby, 43, of Alexandria, Virginia, was the chief operating officer of Metrocall Inc., a wireless data and messaging company.

Ann Judge, 49, of Virginia was the travel office manager for the National Geographic Society.

Chandler Keller, 29, was a Boeing propulsion engineer from El Segundo, California.

Yvonne Kennedy

Norma Khan, 45, from Reston, Virginia was a nonprofit organization manager.

Karen A. Kincaid, 40, was a lawyer with the Washington firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding.

Norma Langsteuerle

Dong Lee

Dora Menchaca, 45, of Santa Monica, California, was the associate director of clinical research for a biotech firm.

Christopher Newton, 38, of Anaheim, California, was president and chief executive officer of Work-Life Benefits.

Barbara Olson, 45, was a conservative commentator who often appeared on CNN and was married to U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson.

Ruben Ornedo, 39, of Los Angeles, California, was a Boeing propulsion engineer.

Robert Penniger, 63, of Poway, California, was an electrical engineer with BAE Systems.

Lisa Raines, 42, was senior vice president for government relations at the Washington office of Genzyme, a biotechnology firm.

Todd Reuben, 40, of Potomac, Maryland, was a tax and business lawyer.

John Sammartino

Diane Simmons

George Simmons

Mari-Rae Sopper of Santa Barbara, California, was a women's gymnastics coach at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Bob Speisman, 47, was from Irvington, New York.

Hilda Taylor was a sixth-grade teacher at Leckie Elementary School in Washington.

Leonard Taylor was from Reston, Virginia.

Leslie A. Whittington, 45, was from University Park, Maryland.

John Yamnicky, 71, was from Waldorf, Maryland.

Vicki Yancey

Shuyin Yang

Yuguag Zheng
 
Rodney Dickens;
Age 11
6th grade honor role student at Ketchum Elementary School in Washington.


Flight #77 departed from Dulles airport,his destination was to Ca.
Rodney was picked by National Geographic to attend a week-long fiel trip to Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.This was a workshop to enlighten the students on a 5 year project called"Sustainable Seas Expeditions" in Santa Barbara,Ca.Conducted by National Geographic and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rodney loved going to his Grandmothers home to watch wrestling.
Rodney lived in a tough neighborhood but still managed to remain on the honor list.

I honor Rodney Dickens
dickens.rodney.jpg
 
Here is a bracelet that my mother made for me in memory of Rodney;

de3fre2.jpg
 
brurlingame.charles.jpg

Captain Charles F. Burlingame

A Classmate Like a Brother


To those who knew him, Capt. Charles F. Burlingame's dependability was legend. "He was kind of a go-to guy," said Perry Martini, a former classmate of Captain Burlingame, a Navy fighter pilot many affectionately remember by his nickname, Chic. "If you needed something done and done right," Mr. Martini said, "you would call on Chic."

As a pilot, Mr. Burlingame, 51, captain of American Airlines Flight 77, was a perfectionist, and his attention to safety earned him the respect and admiration of his colleagues. But Captain Burlingame's most valued quality, friends say, was his commitment to people. He personified the word classmate, Mr. Martini said, and as such, "he became family."

A graduate of the Naval Academy and the Navy's Top Gun fighter pilot school in Miramar, Calif., Mr. Burlingame accepted a position 12 years ago with American Airlines, where his wife, Shari, is a flight attendant.

He was to attend his 30-year college reunion, which he helped organize, the week after the attacks. Instead, former classmates from as far as Hong Kong gathered to honor their fallen brother, take in a Navy football game and reminisce.

"If Chic were around this weekend," Mr. Martini said, "he would be doing a lot of high-fives and hugs." Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 12, 2001.
 
dark_shadows said:
IdahoMom,

I appreciate all that you have done.
Sure, it's my pleasure! :) Thank YOU for sharing Rodney's story with us!:blowkiss:

arielilane said:
IdahoMom, I too, appreciate all that you have done. Thank you! :clap:
Oh, you're welcome! These people deserve to be honored and remembered. I apprecite the profiles you have posted! Please post more if you feel so inclined. :)
 
From wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_77 :

American Airlines Flight 77 was a morning flight that routinely flew from Washington Dulles International Airport in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles International Airport (IAD-LAX). On September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757-223, N644AA, was hijacked as part of the 9/11 attacks. The hijackers were reported to have been Khalid al-Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf al-Hazmi, Salem al-Hazmi, and the suicide pilot Hani Hanjour.

The flight was scheduled to depart at 8:10 AM EDT, but actually departed at 8:20. It was later determined that three of the hijackers had been stopped before boarding the flight because they failed the metal detector test, but were nonetheless allowed to enter the plane.


AA 77 flight path from Dulles to Pentagon (to east of Dulles).


The flight was probably hijacked between 8:51 to 8:54. The assailants used knives and box-cutters to gain entrance to the cockpit. By 8:56, the flight was turned around, and the transponder had been disabled. The FAA was aware at this point that there was an emergency aboard the plane. (By this time, American Airlines Flight 11 had already crashed into the World Trade Center, and United Airlines flight 175 was known to have been hijacked as well.)
 
Renee May, 39, Baltimore:
may_renee.jpg


A month ago, he asked her to marry him. She said yes. And ever since, American Airlines flight attendant Renee A. May and David Spivock had been planning their wedding -- and their life together.​

Now Spivock is immersed in other details, the kind required for obituaries.

His 39-year-old fiancee, he begins, was born in Buffalo but grew up in California and graduated from San Diego State University with an English degree. Her parents and brothers still live out West. She loved to travel and had flown with American since 1986. She loved art and worked as a docent at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, not far from the 150-year-old row house she shared with her cat, Cheyenne, in the city's Federal Hill section.

She especially enjoyed giving museum tours to young visitors. "She was blessed with a sweet voice," Spivock recalled yesterday. "All children loved to be with her."

The Dulles-Los Angeles flight was her regular route. "She was a strong woman, and she always emphasized that she was a safety professional, and that's why was she was there," he said. But after 15 years in the air, May was planning to quit. Even the usual risks of flying had begun to wear.

"It worried her a lot. It worried me, too," Spivock said. He was talking, of course, about more mundane possibilities such as storms or engine problems -- not hijackers acting on their hatred of the United States.

He is trying to dwell on her life, not her death. "She had beautiful blue eyes. She was just so alive. . . . She was the nicest person I [have] ever met."
 
Christopher Newton, 38, of Anaheim, California, was president and chief executive officer of Work-Life Benefits.

Friend of my sister and her husband. They attended the funeral and said it was heartbreaking and packed with mourners.
 
Mari-Rae Sopper of Santa Barbara, California

Jennifer Rudy, UCSB's senior team captain, talks about Mari-Rae Sopper:

" I knew Mari-Rae for many years. She coached some of my best friends back in Colorado. She was one of the best choreographers I have ever seen. We reunited this summer in Washington D.C. She was working in a law firm there and I was working at the Republican National Committee. We got together and talked for hours. To tell you the truth, she usually did most of the talking. I couldn't believe what she already knew about us! She had never met most of the girls on the team, but she knew our statistics and every skill that every member of the team competed. She was so passionate and so dedicated, I knew that she had the ability to do great things with our program. She was convinced that she could get our team fully funded within 2 years, and bring our team to a top ten team within 5 years. Listening to her, I had no doubts."

"Our team had already been on an emotional roller coaster. Now one of the most incredible individuals had been taken away from us, too. I know that Mari-Rae would be disappointed if we did not pull ourselves together. We have dedicated this year to Mari-Rae's memory. We are determined to be a team that Mari-Rae would have been proud to have coached."


I have known Jenny Rudy, the young lady who wrote this, most of her life. She is the daughter of one of my dearest friends.
 
I have chose to honor the Falkenberg family. I did not know them, but when I read about them, they really stuck in my mind. I cannot fathom how horrible it must have been for this mother and father to not only fear for themselves, but for their 2 young children. It must have been horrible! They were on thier way to Australia for a 2 month vacation. I have cut and pasted remarks from thier memorial service, the remarks are in italics.

The memorial service site: http://www.uua.org/news/91101/falkenberg.html

Charles Falkenberg age 45

Charlie, too, loved his family with all his might. He also was a fabulous co-worker, one who was, as his friends told me, the "conscience" of his company, Ecologic. He was dedicated to the idea that business could be socially responsible, and he brought his love of the outdoors from his Denver childhood to the swamplands of DC. His background was more varied than Leslie's, ranging from being a garlic farmer to a carpenter to a computer programer. When he and Leslie married in 1984, he found his soul mate, a woman who I am told was his foundation. Her steady work in academia allowed him to explore his options, but he was ultimately happy to land at Ecologic.Charles, the conscience of his company who was also a bike-riding, mountain-climbing, love-to-be-at-home-with-his-girls kind of dad

Leslie Whittington (mother) age 45

Leslie was good at what she did and was proud of it. As a woman in a man's field, she demanded respect-not only for her work, which was excellent and prodigious, but also for her priorities. She put her marriage and her kids first, where they belonged. Don't get me wrong, she clearly loved her work. But Zoe and Dana filled her heart with their shining spirits, and her love for Charles, I am told, was powerful and unwavering. They were a real team, all of them, in life as in death



Zoe Falkenberg[/B] age 8

Zoe, the swimming, dancing, joyful spirit who entertained everyone she met. Zoe was a ballerina with a laugh always on her lips.


Dana Fallkenberg age 3

Dana, the "toddler robusto" who filled the room with her smile. Dana, still so very young, was enamoured of candy and had a funny way of talking that her "mamo" used to imitate. Leslie called it "Danaspeak" and her colleagues love to tell of this serious economist talking in baby talk!

links to pics of the family and girls, and a website dedicated to the girls.

http://www.zoeszinnias.com/
 
Thanks to all of you great posters who have spent the time so that we can all honour the victims of Sep.11.
 
kazzbar said:
Thanks to all of you great posters who have spent the time so that we can all honour the victims of Sep.11.
Hi Kazzbar,:)
Thank=you so much for the post.
IdahoMom started memorial threads in feb for each of the flights.They are truly heartfelt.I am happy that that the threads started then are brought back up.
Respectfully,
dark_shadows
 
My thoughts and prayers are with those who were lost 9/11 and with the family and friends left behind.
 
All of my deepest Love and Respect to Rodney and all those who perished.

Truly,
dark_shadows
 

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