Archives: Biographies

Willie Q. Troy has voice mail messages he will never retrieve. Family members and friends frantically tried to contact him by cell phone as news of the attack on the Pentagon became widely publicized. But he never called back.  Willie was born the fifth of six children on March 20, 1950 to Mrs. Bessie Mae … Continued

LCDR “Vince” Tolbert was born in Tennessee in September 1962. Following his very successful athletic performance at Lemoore High School, he was awarded a football scholarship to Fresno State University. Graduating from Fresno State in 1985 with a degree in Criminal Justice, he was commissioned an Ensign at Officer’s Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island … Continued

As Saundra Woolen talks about her daughter, Tamara, she begins in the past tense, then stops. “She was such a sweet . . . is such a sweet girl,” she says.  It had been more than two weeks since Army SGT Tamara Thurman was listed as missing in the destroyed section of the Pentagon, but her … Continued

  Karl William Teepe was born on September 24, 1943 in St. Louis, Missouri, the older of two sons of Ruth and the late Wilmer Teepe. He grew up in Jennings, Missouri and graduated from Riverview Gardens High School in Bellefontaine, where he was a member of the golf team. He received his Bachelor of … Continued

Sandra Carol Taylor was a fifty-year-old mother, fiancée, daughter, sister, volunteer, lover of life and friend to many when she was killed on September 11, 2001.  She was born Sandra Carol Fraser on October 8, 1950 in Somerville, Massachusetts, to her parents, Beverly and Harold Fraser. As her fiancé, Timothy Dudgeon, remembered, “she was a … Continued

LTC Kip P. Taylor was commissioned into the Army’s Adjutant General Corps at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan in December 1985 by his father, Lieutenant Colonel Donald R. Taylor. Kip received scholarships for both the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and basketball, and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Management. He earned his Master … Continued

Sergeant Major Larry Lee Strickland served as the senior enlisted advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel since November 1990. He had over 29 years of service and was 52 years old. SGM Strickland was scheduled to retire upon completion of 30 years of service.  SGM Larry Strickland was born on February 14, … Continued

Edna Lee Stephens entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. She was born on April 19, 1948 to Pastor Eddie Stephens and the late Willie Mae Lott Stephens in Gainesville, Georgia. She was educated in the Gainesville City School System and graduated from the E.E. Butler High School in 1966.  Soon after graduation, … Continued

Patricia Statz was born January 25, 1960 in Chippewa Falls; the daughter of JoAnn (Marek) and Vincent Statz. She attended McDonell High School and pursued a degree in Theater at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire that she completed at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in 1983.  She traveled to Germany a year later to work … Continued

Gary F. Smith, Chief of Army Retirement Services, began his military career on January 28, 1968 with an ROTC commission from Creighton University. His first command assignment was in 1968 as Company Commander/Platoon Leader with the 560th Signal Battalion in Vicenza, Italy. In 1970, he served as a Communications Officer with the 546th Infantry and … Continued