|
By Kent Larsen
Second Pentagon Victim Identified
WASHINGTON, DC -- Mormon News has learned the identity of the second
Mormon victim in Tuesday's attack on the Pentagon. Rhonda Ridge
Rasmussen was a budget analyst in the army working in the Pentagon
each day, along with her husband, Floyd Rasmussen, who worked
elsewhere in the Pentagon. She was 44.
Rasmussen, a California native, started working for the Army in 1981,
earning a bachelor's degree and an MBA in the Army's controllership
program. She married Floyd 27 years ago and the couple raised four
children as Floyd pursued an Army career. The couple said they moved
27 times in 27 years.
Floyd says that the couple considered playing hooky last Tuesday, but
instead drove to work at the Pentagon. Shortly afterward the building
was evacuated, and Floyd searched for Rhonda in the crowd outside, "I
basically wandered around the area to see if I could see anybody from
her office," he said. He eventually returned home, and became more
worried as the day wore on. The next morning, two soldiers from the
Army visited to tell him that his wife was listed as missing.
Now the family is grieving for their mother. Floyd and Rhonda had
planned to retire and move to California, but he now says he will
stay in the Army for the time being, "I'll leave on my terms -- not
somebody else's terms," he said. And, Floyd adds, his wife's death
will always be with him, "My wife is sacrificed on the altar of
freedom," Rasmussen said. "I will spend the rest of my life
celebrating hers."
Source:
'I'll Spend the Rest of My Life Celebrating Hers'
Washington Post pgPW01 16Sep01 P2
By Fredrick Kunkle: Washington Post Staff Writer
|
