Focus Shifts to Identifying Victims at Pentagon Crash Site
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2001 -- The search for remains in the
debris at the Sept. 11 airliner crash site at the Pentagon
has ended. The FBI has stopped sifting through debris
looking for evidence and remains, however, more than a
third of the victims of the terrorist attack are still
unaccounted for, according to Defense Department officials.
"The identification of the remains we have is a high
priority, but we don't expect to find any more remains at
the crash site," DoD spokesman Brian Whitman said.
At last count, 125 Pentagon military personnel and civilian
workers were killed or remain unaccounted. One of the dead
succumbed days later to injuries suffered in the attack.
Another 64 persons, the passengers and crew aboard hijacked
American Airlines Flight 77, died on impact. To date, 118
remains have been recovered and taken to Dover Air Force
Base, Del., for identification.
To date, Dover has identified 93 victims, DoD officials
noted.
On Oct. 2, DoD released the names of five more people
confirmed dead in the terrorist attack:
- Gerald Fisher, 57, an Army contractor from Potomac,
Md.
- Army Sgt. Maj. Larry L. Strickland, 52, from Edmond,
Wash.
- Army Sgt. Tamara C. Thurman, 25, from Brewton, Ala.
- Army Spc. Chin Sun Pak, 24, from Lawton, Okla.
- Jerry Moran, 39, a Navy contractor from Upper
Marlboro, Md.
Tom Fontana, communications officer for the Pentagon
renovation project, said the Marine Corps and Office of the
Secretary of Defense moved about 40 workers back into Wedge
1 on Oct. 1. "We hope to have a bunch of folks moving back
in on Nov. 1 and a bunch more on Jan. 1," he said.
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