Honoring Pentagon's Sept. 11 victims

Jet, May 12, 2003

* HONORING PENTAGON'S SEPT. 11 VICTIMS: Third-grader Natoria Louallen (r) is among the 394 students to leave handprints on a garden memorial for deceased victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon (JET, Oct. 1, 2001) at the Leckie Elementary School in southwest Washington, D.C. The memorial will consist of a 2,000-square-foot garden honoring Leckie student Bernard Curtis Brown II, 11; sixth-grade teacher Hilda E.

Taylor, 62; as well as Marsha Dianah Ratchford, 34; and Johnnie Doctor Jr., 32, two parents whose children attended the school. Brown and Taylor were on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and Ratchford and Doctor both worked at the Pentagon. The garden will be divided into three sections: a basketball shape that is cemented in the walkway to symbolize Brown's love for the game and a heart shape to symbolize the students love for Taylor and her love for them. A bench in the parents' corner will face two nearby military facilities. It will be surrounded by a black wrought-iron fence and brick piers. The school plans to dedicate the memorial on Sept. 11.