Relatives of Pentagon victim Edna Stephens remember 9-11

GAINESVILLE - Family members of a North Georgia victim of the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. took time to share their memories with students at Fair Street Elementary School in Gainesville Monday morning.

Courtney Stephens Jones is a paraprofessional at Fair Street and a niece of Edna Stephens, who perished when a plane struck the Pentagon 10 years ago. She said it never gets easier to reflect on the events of 9-11, but her family members do it every year.

"This year they split everybody up," said Jones. "We had some people go to Washington, D.C., while some remained here to attend different things. But, it's difficult...every year."

Also speaking to students at the event was Brenda Stephens Pyant, one of Edna Stephens' sisters. She said that 9-11 is a tragic event in American history that should always be commemorated, much the same as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"They would either show a movie or go through the reels of what happened, and I think that should be done here," said Pyant.

Pyant said she remembers traveling to Washington with her siblings right after the attack, and the memory is still painful.

"I saw the building first-hand. I saw it still smoldering."

The plane that struck the Pentagon on 9-11 hit an office where Edna Stephens was working. Pyant remembered that her sister was identified through DNA evidence, and that officials recovered only a blouse and some rings belonging to her sister.

She pointed out that Fair Street was a part of Edna Stephens' "history," since she was a student at Fair Street from the 2nd through the 8th grade.

Before the ceremony Monday, students at the school constructed a paper clip connection memorial, joining together 2966 paper clips, one for each victim of the 9-11 attacks. Fair Street teachers joined each class chain to form one large chain at the Monday service.