"I proposed in 1993. We had been seeing each other for about a year, the typical dating. We met at church. It started out like a friendly relationship and I fell in love. We were married that same year, on July 4th. We thought it would be a great day to get married. A casualty officer brought me the ring. It was very dear to her."

--Gary McKinzy, husband

Source: The Washington Post, AP and washingtonpost.com

The profiles in this feature were written in the months following Sept. 11, 2001.