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Solemn, Simple Ceremony Marks Tech Tragedy Anniversary

April 16, 2008

By Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Thousands gathered on the Drillfield at Virginia Tech to mark what Gov. Timothy M. Kaine called the "sense of lost promise" from the shooting deaths of 32 students and teachers one year ago.

In a ceremony marked by its solemnity and simplicity, the names of the 32 victims were read aloud, and their virtues and passions extolled. Among the dead were students who volunteered with children, with the poor and with the elderly. Among the dead were pianists, a violinist, a clarinetist. A volunteer firefighter. A rescue-squad member. Dancers, musicians, athletes. And some who called their parents almost every single night.

Each one was recalled, and each life was celebrated, as a crowd of thousands listened silently.

"The world was cheated on April 16 a year ago — cheated out of the accomplishments that were sure to come from these 32 lives," Kaine said as he stood at the memorial of gray stones built to honor the dead.

Gunman Seung-Hui Cho, whose name was not uttered by Kaine or by the ceremony’s only other speaker, Tech President Charles W. Steger, killed 27 students and five teachers on the morning of April 16, 2007, a cold, blustery day. He then killed himself.

Wednesday, up to 15,000 people — the vast majority of them students wearing orange or maroon T-shirts — gathered under a blue sky to mark the occasion. Classes were canceled for the event, and students from Blacksburg’s schools were given the option of attending the ceremony or class.

One high school student who chose to attend, Zach Myers, 16, said the somber ceremony was the appropriate way to mark the day. "It’s nice to come here and reflect on things," he said. "It helps."

Steger, in his remarks, mourned the dead, saluted the wounded survivors and praised the university community’s effort to come to grips with the tragedy during the past year.

"We’ve searched for answers," he said. "We’ve searched for meaning in what is incomprehensible. We’ve searched for rest in our sleepless hours where the silence is shattered by the barrage of our own thoughts. And we’ve searched our souls for purpose and direction and peace to calm the turmoil of our hearts and minds.

"We have not found all that we’ve sought, but at every turn we’ve found each other."

Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.
Contact Carlos Santos at csantos@timesdispatch.com.