By: Connie Cass
Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - With hymns, Scripture readings
and speeches from military leaders, relatives and friends
paid their respects Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery
to the 184 victims of last year's terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
"While there's nothing one of us can do to bring back
those loved ones, we can celebrate who they were,
how they lived their lives and remember how their lives
were lost, in a struggle dedicated to the eternal truth of
freedom and the human spirit," Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld spoke next to a flag-draped casket containing
cremated remains from the Pentagon rubble that could
not be identified. For five of the victims, the internment
in Arlington will be the only burial because no remains
were confirmed to be theirs.
The five include a 60-year-old retired Army colonel and a
3-year-old girl killed with her parents and sister aboard
hijacked American Airlines Flight 77.
Relatives of the victims sat solemnly, some hugging
and weeping, others wiping away tears, as the crowd
sang "Amazing Grace"
and listened to eulogies from military chaplains.
"Know that your country shares your sorrow, mourns
your loss and prays that God will comfort you,"
Rumsfeld told the families.
A five-sided granite marker bearing the 184 names
will stand over a shared grave at the Arlington National
Cemetery - the nation's most prestigious burial ground
holding the unidentified remains.
The 4-foot-5-inch-tall marker, with names of the dead
inscribed on aluminum plaques, will be placed over
the grave later, said Jennifer Lafley, spokeswoman
for the Army Military District of Washington.
The Army oversees Arlington cemetery.
Most of the 64 victims already interred at Arlington are
nearby under simple headstones, within sight of the
repaired Pentagon.
In some cases, as recovery efforts continued, additional
remains were identified after a person was buried. Some
of their families chose to have those fragments held for
the common burial site, Lafley said.
Many of the dead, including some who were working
inside the Pentagon on Sept. 11, did not qualify for
burial at the nation's most famous cemetery.
Arlington is generally reserved for active duty personnel,
military retirees, retired reservists who reach age 60,
winners of the military's highest decorations, and former
prisoners of war. Their spouses also qualify.
Among the 275,000 people buried there are presidents
John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft, the crew of
the Space Shuttle Challenger, and veterans of every
war the United States has fought.
A year and a day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
all of the dead from the Pentagon attack also share
in the honors of Arlington.
"It's nice that they're remembering all the victims," said
Steve Push, whose wife, Lisa Raines, died inside the
Pentagon. She was buried in November; Push said
he wouldn't attend the additional service.
Some 13,000 people gathered to grieve and hear
President Bush's words at Pentagon memorial service
on Wednesday, as Sept. 11 was remembered across
the nation. The Defense Department also plans to build
a larger monument at the Pentagon.
The five victims whose remains were not identified are:
Dana Falkenberg, 3, who loved dressing up as
a princess and died alongside her sister Zoe, 8,
and parents Leslie Whittington and Charles Falkenberg,
as they began a trip to Australia.
Retired Army Col. Ronald Golinski, 60, an avid golfer
who worked as a civilian employee at the Pentagon.
A memorial headstone, used when no remains are
present, was placed for him at Arlington in December.
Ronald Hemenway, 37, a Navy electronics technician first
class who left behind a 3-year-old son and 1 year old daughter.
His memorial headstone was placed at Arlington in March.
James T. Lynch, 55, a civilian video technician for the Navy
known for handing out butterscotch candies to everyone
he passed.
Rhonda Rasmussen 44, a civilian worker for the Army and
mother of four who was planning to transfer to California when
she died.
Five sets of remains believed to be those of the hijackers,
because they did not match DNA provided by victims' families,
were turned over to the FBI in February and will be excluded
from the burial, officials said.
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