"He built it for the girls. This was relaxation for him. He started building dollhouses when they were in preschool. He did a house to fit the Barbie dolls and a barn and a henhouse, and he found the animals to scale. He was so good with his hands. Believe it or not, he's made Barbie doll dresses for them. He was such a straightforward Navy person; it was 'get it done, get it done right' -- and here was this artistic stuff that would come out." -- Pat Grooss-Getzfred, wife

Profile:

Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred, 57, was one of seven Nebraska brothers, five of whom joined the Navy.

According to his brother Mark, he enlisted in 1963, a year after graduating from St. Boniface High School in Elgin. After four years, he shifted into the reserves while working toward a mathematics degree at Santa Clara University in California. He then rejoined the Navy for officer training.

After 38 years serving around the world, Getzfred was in his second stint at the Pentagon, working in the Navy Command Center, which was destroyed in Tuesday's terrorist attack.

Getzfred, the father of two, lived with his wife in Silver Spring.

-- Amy Argetsinger

Source: The Washington Post, AP and washingtonpost.com

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