"He was so, so proud of his education. We had to fly all the way back to Germany so he could walk across the stage and get his degree because we were reassigned to Colorado Springs. When he told me this, I said 'Are you serious?' And he looked at me like I had grown horns or something. He said 'Yes, I want to get my degree.' He got a master's of education with a concentration in counseling. He wanted to go back to Kansas City where he was from and help kids there. He did have a thing about education." --Deborah Ivory, wife

Source: The Washington Post, AP and washingtonpost.com

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