Remembering 9/11 Victims From Silver Spring 20 Years Later

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County will remember and mourn residents who died 20 years ago on 9/11 at a ceremony later this week.

Nearly 3,000 Americans, including 11 from Montgomery County, were killed in the suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida.

Two decades ago, Americans watched as first one and then another plane flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. As the truth dawned on people watching from their TVs that America was under attack, another plane took aim at the Pentagon. A fourth was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania in a final act of heroism by passengers who realized their flight had been hijacked.

On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Silver Spring remembers and mourns:

William E. Caswell, 54, American Airlines Flight 77

Caswell was a physicist who worked for the Navy. Originally from Boston, he was the eldest of six children. He loved chess, bridge, and cryptic crossword puzzles.

"He was a wonderful dancer. I will never be able to dance with anybody else," his wife, Jean, said. "He was my perfect partner. Above all, he was a good, caring, and loving man." [The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial]

Teddington Hamm "Ted" Moy, 48, Pentagon

Moy was a husband and father, and celebrated his wife's 50th birthday one day before he died. He was a program manager in information management support for the Army, and his wife said she handed him his lunch before he went into work for the day on 9/11.

The last time his wife spoke to him, Moy reminded her that their son had an orthodontist appointment.

“That was the last I heard from him,” Madeline Moy said. [The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial]

Scott Powell, 35, Pentagon

Powell was a father of three and a musician. He played bass, acoustic guitar and keyboard, and used thousands of computer-generated sounds in his music. He was close with his twin brother, Art. Art said that sometimes people call him, since his voice sounded similar to his brother's.

"Some people just want to talk and hear that familiar tone and cadence,” said Art. [The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial]

Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred, 57, Pentagon

Getzfred, a husband and father of two, had a long career in the Navy that began when he followed in his older brother's footsteps and enlisted after graduating from high school in Nebraska. Afterward, he got a degree in mathematics from DeAnza College and Santa Clara University and went on to continue serving in a variety of Navy roles.

"Larry was a wonderful husband, father, brother, son and naval officer," a tribute to him says. "Throughout his career he served in a number of positions that placed him in the role of teacher, a job that he had once considered as a civilian career. He was a great teacher and leader."

Honoring Victims

All 9/11 victims will be remembered at memorial services planned across the nation on Sept. 11 to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

In Montgomery County, a ceremony honoring local victims will be held on Friday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. in Courthouse Square Park in Rockville. It will honor all 11 Montgomery County resident who died: William Edward Caswell, Dr. Gerald Paul Fisher, Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred, Michele M. Heidenberger, Angela Marie Houtz, Teddington Hamm Moy, Lt. Darin H. Pontell, Scott A. Powell, Todd Hayes Reuben, Patricia J. Statz and Ernest M. Willcher.

At the 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan, New York — an area known for years after the attacks as “Ground Zero” — the names of the fallen will be read aloud.

“Throughout the ceremony, we will observe six moments of silence, acknowledging when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell and the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93,” the 9/11 Memorial & Museum wrote on its website.

The annual “Tribute of Light,” which are lights pointed to the sky in the shape of the Twin Towers, will go on that night.

Most 9/11 victims were from either New York or New Jersey, where many who lived across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center recall the horror of watching the twin towers collapse from their homes in Hoboken and Jersey City.

More than 2,700 people died at the World Trade Center alone on 9/11, including the passengers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. Another 184 were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 44 died on United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

This story includes information and quotes from the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.