![]() ![]() Laurel Homer was 10 months old when her father was killed in the crash. Homer joined United Airlines after a military career as an Air Force pilot, flying C-141 cargo planes during the Gulf War, and later, flying humanitarian missions in Somalia. He got his private pilot's license when he was 16. He would watch aircraft take off and land for hours.Īs a teen, he worked at night cleaning medical buildings to save up money for flying lessons. He had fallen in love with planes as a little boy growing up on Long Island, N.Y. LeRoy Homer was the co-pilot on that flight. In a field just outside Shanksville, Pa., the Flight 93 National Memorial features a towering musical instrument: 40 wind chimes, representing the 40 passengers and crew who died when United Flight 93 crashed there after being overtaken by hijackers. Her mom told her bad men on his plane killed her dad, and it made her afraid of all men Homer's father, LeRoy Homer, was the co-pilot of United Flight 93, and was killed in the crash just outside Shanksville, Pa. Laurel Homer at her home in Wilmington, N.C., on Aug. At home, on the family altar for Khang, they will set out his favorite foods: the Vietnamese noodle soup pho, some tropical fruits, and chè, a sweet pudding. On 9/11, An and his mother plan to attend the annual memorial service at the Pentagon. "I know he would be very proud of where I've gone and what I've persevered for, under his name." "It embodies my father's legacy," he says. In this 20 th anniversary year, An sees his upcoming educational achievement as a gift for his father. It's a degree his dad was on track to get himself when his life was cut short. 9, is a software engineer, soon to get his master's degree from George Mason University. ![]() "In some regards I'm on my own," he says, "trying to understand how this world operates and possibly more importantly, how do I know myself? How do I define myself without the most important male role model in my life?"Īn, who will turn 24 on Sept. He drew himself off to one side, with tears falling down his face.Īs he's grown, with so few memories of the father he lost, An has had to reckon with huge life questions. To illustrate that page, An sketched a jet plane about to crash into the Pentagon. I was very sad when he died, but I still love him so much."Īn Nguyen stands with his mother, Tu HoNguyen, for a portrait at George Mason University, where he completed his undergraduate degree and is currently pursuing his master's. In a picture book he made in elementary school, titled What My Father Means to Me, An wrote, "When my father died, I forgot everything from him. "A lot of classical or traditional songs in Vietnamese." "He would sing, sometimes very loudly," he recalls. An is their only child.Īn's memories of his father are few. in 1981, where he met and married An's mother, Tu HoNguyen. He grew up amidst the trauma of war, and emigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. There's just a blackened, gaping hole, open to the sky. Where the plane struck the building, a whole section is gone. There's a family photo of An - a small boy in khaki overalls, standing outside the Pentagon - taken just a few days after the attack. "Being so young and so vulnerable," An says, "it was a really difficult time."Īn Nguyen (left) holds a photo of his mother, Tu HoNguyen, and father, Khang Ngoc Nguyen, in front of the Twin Towers young An Nguyen (right) stands outside the Pentagon, days after the attack. A 3-year-old, riding high on his dad's shoulders at their home in Fairfax, Va.īut then there he is, having just turned 4, wearing a traditional Vietnamese white headband for mourning, weeping over his father's casket. "How do I define myself without the most important male role model in my life?"Īn Nguyen smiles as he flips through some old family photos: there he is, a 1-year-old, cuddling on his father's lap. A new generation has grown up over the past two decades with few if any memories of those they lost perhaps just a hazy glimpse that continues to fade over the years, or a faint echo of a voice. Many of those who died left behind children who were so young they never got to know their parents. 11, 2001, terrorists launched coordinated attacks on the U.S. Nguyen had just turned four when his father died in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. An Nguyen sits for a portrait at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
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