Kris Romeo Bishundat

Kris Romeo Bishundat joined the U.S. Navy six years ago, two days before his 18th birthday.

In those six years, the native of Waldorf, Md., has traveled around the world on two tours.

"He was just happy he got to see the world, doing what he liked to do, always on the go," a sister said from the family's Maryland home. Bishundat, an information systems technician 2nd class, is assigned to the Pentagon. He gave few details to his family about his duties. Bishundat is among those missing in the Pentagon.

His 24th birthday was Friday.

Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

Master Sgt. Max Beilke (USA Ret.)

RET. MASTER SGT. MAX BEILKE, 69, officially was the last American combat soldier to leave Vietnam in 1973. He was a civilian employee at the Pentagon who worked on veterans issues. Beilke, who was drafted in the Korean War, was the kid who'd always had a fishing pole in his hand, joined the U.S. Army and saw the world, said his sister, Lucille Johnson. "We could see him leaving (Vietnam) on television," Johnson said of her brother's return. "We all just beamed because we knew he'd soon be home safely."

Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press

Craig Amundson

Craig Amundson always found computers easy to work with.

It was not only what would lead him to his job at the Pentagon doing computer graphics, but it was a way he found he could help people out.

That included his parents, who run a pharmacy in Hartville, Mo., a town of 700 people in the southwest part of the state.

Earlier this year, he designed a Web page for Star Pharmacy that provided health tips to people who logged on.

"Thanks to Craig Amundson, Webmeister extraordinary, for designing our Web site. A fantastic job. Many thanks for many hours of work," his parents, Orland and Karen, wrote on the site's guestbook after it opened in January.

It was a typical exchange in the close-knit family, said Mary McAfoos, Craig's aunt.

"They're very close. They all drove out there over two days last week" to be at Craig's home in Ft. Belvoir, Va., McAfoos said from her home in Kansas City, Mo. "It's a very tragic time. It has been ups and downs. We're pretty devastated."

Raised in a small town in Iowa, Amundson, 28, had moved his wife and two children to the Washington, D.C. area two years ago to take the job there. He had a bachelor's degree in film studies from the University of Iowa and worked as a multimedia illustrator for the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel command.

"How do you describe a person?" McAfoos said. "He was optimistic. Had an easy laugh. And he adored his family."

He adored them so much that he turned down a recent promotion because it would have separated him from his family for a while.

"He was just a super nice kid," said Trina VanderBogart a pharmacy technician at his parent's store in Hartville.

A memorial service for Amundson will be held Saturday morning in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington, Va. A graveside service will follow at Arlington National Cemetery.

Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

Samantha (Lightbourn) Allen

Army budget analyst Samantha Allen was known as a fastidious worker who kept track not only of her own work, but also of accounts under the control of fellow budget employees.

She came by her devotion to government work honestly: She inherited it. Her father, Raymond Lightbourn Sr., served in the Navy during World War II and then spent 50 years working in civil service. All 12 of his children followed his example.

"All of us have worked for the government, whether as cops, firefighters, civil service or in the military," said Navy Quartermaster 1st Class Raymond Lightbourn Jr., one of Allen's brothers. Allen, 36, got a job working for the Army as a civilian clerk 10 years ago and worked her way up to budget analyst.

She was at her job in the Pentagon Sept. 11 working on the upcoming budget when a hijacked plane slammed into the building, killing her.

News of the attack sent Raymond Lightbourn Jr.--who lives nearby and was on his day off--on a search throughout Washington, D.C. looking for his sister.

Because of the traffic gridlock, he hopped on a bike and made the ride to several area hospitals, then to the Pentagon and then back to several more hospitals trying to find her.

"I kept trying to figure out if it was the other side of the building from where she worked" that the plane hit, Lightbourn Jr. said. "But it wasn't."

Allen, a mother of two, was a born-again Christian who gave a lot of her time to her church and then spent the rest of her waking hours keeping up with her 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.

She has a twin sister, Rennea Butler, who has been devastated by the loss, Lightbourn Jr. said.

But it has been hard for all of the family to grieve while they waited for the discovery of Allen's body.

"We're all kind of in limbo now," Lightbourn Jr. said.

Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

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Welcome to the 911 Blog

Welcome to the 911 Blog. This is where you can share your memories and thoughts of September 11th and pay your respects to the heroes and victims.

If you lost a friend or family member in the tragedy that you would like to honor, you can add your own Posting or Tribute to them here.

You can include photos and images in your Postings. There's a new button for uploading photos in the interface you will see when you click to “Add your own Posting”. You can also include a link in your Posting to help direct people to your own website or another website where information you want to share resides.

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