FACES OF VICTIMS LIVE FOREVER IN MEMORIES SCORES WITH TIES TO LOS ANGELES AMONG THOSE WHO PERISHED.Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer Their stories have yet to fade with time. The international bond trader and father who loved to travel. The medical researcher and mother of two who worked to find a cure for cancer. The recently engaged doctor who dreamed of opening a dialysis clinic in his native Ethiopia. Carlton Valvo II. Dora Menchaca. Yeneneh Betru. They never met, but their lives and their deaths intertwined randomly five years ago, when terrorists hijacked four airplanes and used them to commit mass murder on U.S. soil. While there are years that give, there are also years that take, and for thousands of family members and friends left to remember the nearly 3,000 victims who died on Sept.11, 2001, the past five years have not given peace. ``It's so ironic that the nicest people have to suffer the most horrendous atrocity,'' said Dr. Steven Taback, a lung specialist who worked with Betru in a Burbank medical center. Five years ago, Betru, a 35-year-old internist internist /in·tern·ist/ (in-ter´nist) a specialist in internal medicine. in·ter·nist n. A physician specializing in internal medicine. , had visited his native Ethiopia and was on his way back to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Described by his friends as ``a gentle spirit,'' he was a passenger on American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. ``Not much has changed for us since 9-11,'' Taback said. ``Time heals some of those wounds. But his memory, the horror of how we lost him in those final moments, is something that's ever-present every day in our minds.'' While New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field remain as epicenters of grief, Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, also is home to dozens of families who lost loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl and friends in the attacks. The Greater Los Angeles Red Cross helped 33 families prepare for funerals. Carlton Valvo II grew up in Glendale and was a standout student and athlete at St. Francis High School before heading to Chicago, where he graduated from Northwestern University Northwestern University, mainly at Evanston, Ill.; coeducational; chartered 1851, opened 1855 by Methodists. In 1873 it absorbed Evanston College for Ladies. . Valvo, a 38-year-old vice president of international bond trading at Canter Fitzgerald, had an office on the 105th floor of One World Trade Center, the first tower that the hijackers hit. He left behind a wife, Lori, and daughter, Dante, who is now 12. His remains were recovered, identified through DNA analysis DNA analysis Any technique used to analyze genes and DNA. See Chromosome walking, DNA fingerprinting, Footprinting, In situ hybridization, Jeffries' probe, Jumping libraries, PCR, RFLP analysis, Southern blot hybridization. and buried this past Thanksgiving in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery operated by the Los Angeles Archdiocese since 1800, and is located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, California, near the Mission San Fernando Rey de España. . His parents -- Dr. Carlton Valvo, a prominent urologist Urologist A physician who deals with the study and treatment of disorders of the urinary tract in women and the urogenital system in men. Mentioned in: Congenital Bladder Anomalies, Lithotripsy, Men's Health, Overactive Bladder urologist , and Coletta Valvo -- plan to visit his grave on Monday. ``I don't go a day without thinking of Carl,'' said Brandon Valvo, his younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
An immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. lawyer, Brandon Valvo keeps a photograph of Carlton in his Los Angeles office. It is one of many copies the family posted all over Manhattan in the days after the disaster when it was still unclear who had died, who had been injured and who had gone missing. Carlton, he said, was the happiest person he knew. ``My brother lived life to the fullest,'' Brandon Valvo said. ``He traveled all over the world.'' At the Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, where scientists and researchers use biotechnology to find cures for diseases, a reflection garden is tucked away in the corner of the property. It is a place to remember Dora Menchaca, a 45-year-old mother of two who took an early flight home to be with her family. Like Betru, she also was on Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon about an hour after taking off from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. The plane was the third to crash that day, and all 64 on board and 125 on the ground were killed. ``Dora was very well-known, very well-loved,'' said Bill Rich, a statistician and Menchaca's colleague, who finds comfort in visiting the garden. ``She worked hard, but she spent a lot of time with her family.'' Public monuments to those who died that day dot Los Angeles, reminders to future generations that on Sept.11, 2001, families and friends awoke to find that loved ones had vanished forever. There is a scoreboard in a Little League Field in Glendale named for Valvo, a crepe myrtle tree on the front lawn of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a hospital in Burbank, California, USA. The hospital has 455 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. It's adress is: 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505. in Burbank for Betru, and a grove of trees in North Hollywood Park dedicated to dozens of Los Angeles residents who died. But for some, the monuments still offer little comfort. ``It was a tragic loss for such hatred,'' Rich said. ``I'd still rather have all those people back.'' susan.abram(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Dr. Steven Taback has a framed photo of Yeneneh Betru, who was a 35-year-old internist when he died as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11. Taback worked with Betru in a Burbank medical center. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer (2) Los Angeles lawyer Brandon Valvo reflects on his brother, Carlton, a 38-year-old vice president of international bond trading at Canter Fitzgerald, who had an office on the 105th floor of One World Trade Center, the first tower that the hijackers hit on 9-11. When Carlton Valvo died, he left behind a wife, Lori, and daughter, Dante, who is now 12. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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