It has been 23 years since the world watched in horror as an unimaginable act of terrorism took the lives of 2,977 Americans, including 16 Alexandria residents on Sept. 11, 2001. The City of Alexandria marked the anniversary of what remains the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history with a ceremony remembering those who were killed and honoring the first responders who answered the call. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the region.

One of those first responders was Penn-Daw Station 11 firefighter Jim Morris, who is now retired. Morris was among the first responders pictured atop the Pentagon in the now iconic photograph of the American flag as it was unfurled. As Morris participated in the recovery efforts in Arlington, his mind was 225 miles north in New York City, where his brother Seth was still unaccounted for in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

Seth Morris was a broker with Cantor Fitzgerald working on the 105th floor of World Trade Center One. He did not survive.

The coordinated attacks at the Pentagon, World Trade Center and outside Shanksville, Pa., resulted in 2,977 casualties. Remains of more than 1,700 of those who perished have never been recovered.

Alexandria’s victims of 9-11

Spc. Craig Amundson      

Spec. Craig S. Amundson, 28, was assigned to the Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel as a graphic artist and was at work at the Pentagon the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Award. He left behind his wife, Amber, and children Elliot and Charlotte.

Eddie A. Dillard                

Eddie A. Dillard, 54, was a passenger aboard American Airlines flight 77. He left behind a wife of 15 years, Rosemary, and one son, Edrick L. Dillard.

Capt. Robert Edward Dolan         

Captain Robert Dolan, 43, was working on the first floor of the Pentagon as head of the U.S. Navy’s Strategy and Concepts Branch when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the building. He was a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and commander of the USS John Hancock. His class ring was found in the remains of the Pentagon. Dolan was survived by his wife Lisa and children Rebecca and Beau.

Cmdr. William H. Donovan

Commander William Howard Donovan, 37, was commissioned at the Naval Academy with the Class of 1986. He had been on the Chief of Naval Operations staff for a little over a year when Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. Known as “the Waynewood Dad,” Donovan left behind his wife Elaine and three young children. His remains were never recovered.

Diane M. Hale-McKinzy

Diane Hale-McKinzy, 38, was a civilian employee for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon. Born in Lithonia, Ga., she served in the Army for four years before beginning a career in civil service.

Maj. Wallace Cole Hogan Jr.

Maj. Wallace Cole Hogan Jr., 40, served with the Green Berets, the Special Forces and, ultimately, as a general’s aide at the Pentagon. The 21-year Army veteran was an avid cyclist and regularly commuted by bike from his Alexandria home to the Pentagon. He was survived by his wife Pat, an Air Force doctor that he met when he fell ill at the Jungle Warfare School in Panama. Other survivors included his parents Wallace and Jane Hogan and sisters Meg Campbell and Kris Leggett.

Bryan C. Jack

Bryan C. Jack, 48, was on American Airlines Flight 77 when the plane struck the Pentagon, where he worked as the head of the Defense Department’s programming and fiscal economics division. Jack and his longtime companion, artist Barbara Rachko, were married on June 16, 2001, just 87 days before his death.

Steven D. Jacoby              

Steven “Jake” Jacoby, 43, was the chief operating officer of Metrocall and a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77. A community leader, Jacoby sat on the board of Men Against Breast Cancer and was actively involved with the Camp Fantastic Special Love charity golf tournament as well as Catholic Charities. The weekend before his death, Jacoby had celebrated the birthdays of his wife Kim and son Nicholas.

Terence M. Lynch            

Terence Michael Lynch, 49, was one of three consultants from Booz Allen Hamilton who perished during a meeting at the Pentagon. On the day of his death, he was attending a meeting to extend survivor benefits to military families. He was survived by his wife Jacqueline and daughters Tiffany Marie and Ashley Nicole.

Lt. Col. Dean Mattson

Army Lt. Col. Dean Mattson, 57, was less than three months away from retiring when he was killed while working in the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. A 35-year Army veteran, Mattson had plans of being a Lutheran pastor before committing to the Army when he was drafted in 1964. The Belle Haven Towers apartments resident left behind his mother Bernice and brothers Glenn, Dwain and Dale.

Maj. Clifford L. Patterson Jr.        

Major Clifford L. Patterson, Jr., 33, was a native of Washington D.C. and graduate of St. John’s College High School. In 1991 he graduated from Howard University as a Distinguished Military Graduate. He was working at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Cmdr. Robert Allan Schlegel        

Cmdr. Robert A. Schlegel, 38, followed his father and brothers in the Navy. Prior to being posted to the Pentagon, he was executive officer of the USS Arthur W. Radford, a 9,000-ton destroyer. 

Lt. Col. Gary F. Smith (Ret.)          

Retired Army Lt. Col. Gary Smith, 55, was at a meeting at the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 struck. A resident of Waynewood since 1984, Smith coached his daughter’s soccer teams, kept time for the West Potomac High School track team and was a fixture at high school football games on Friday nights. A 23-year Army veteran, Smith received the Soldier’s Medal for Heroism after saving a number of soldiers from a helicopter crash during his service in Vietnam. He was survived by his wife Ann and daughters Natalie, Nicole, Kristie and Tracy.

Norma Lang Steuerle      

Norma Lang Steuerle, 54, was active in the Old Town community as a clinical psychologist and through Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. She was aboard American Airlines Flight 77 en route to visit a daughter in Japan and her husband Eugene, who was teaching a seminar in Singapore.

Sandra C. Taylor

Sandra Carol Taylor, 50, worked as a civilian for the U.S. Army for 30 years and at the Pentagon for almost 10. She was a volunteer at the Hospice of Northern Virginia and at the time of her death was engaged to Timothy Dudgeon. She left behind her daughter Samantha.

Meta L. Waller  

Meta L. Waller, 60, was a 12-year civilian employee of the U.S. Army at the Pentagon and was at her desk when the hijacked airliner struck the building. Named after her grandmother, the African American sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, Waller received a master’s degree in government from Harvard University and was active in civil rights affairs.