Oklahomans lost Sept. 11

Seven Oklahomans were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City and at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. While they lived and worked in other states, they left family and friends in Oklahoma to remember and memorialize their lives. Here are their stories and an update on their families.

• Brian Moss

  

  The night before a terrorist-controlled jetliner crashed into the Pentagon office of Brian Moss, the Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class called his mom in Sperry to do a little boasting.

  The 34-year-old electronics technician had just been selected to work for the Chief of Naval Operations, another notch in an exemplary military career.

  He told his family that he took the Navy Advancement Exam about a week earlier and hoped to be promoted to 1st Class by the end of year.

  He was killed before he knew the results. He passed the exam and "is resting" as a Petty Officer 1st Class, Electronics Technician, according to the Navy.

  For the anniversary of his death, his parents, Bill and Pat Moss of Sperry, will join Moss' widow, Mary Lou, and children, Ashten, 7, and Connor, 5, in Washington, D.C.

  "I know that's where Brian loved to be," said Pat Moss. "He loved the military, he loved Washington, D.C., and was so honored to be placed in the Pentagon."

  During the past year, several memorials have been created in his name including a Bartlett pear tree at an Up with Trees! site in Tulsa; a flagpole at the Sperry Armory; plaques at the Pentagon, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Sperry High School; and a scholarship for a Sperry graduate.

  "Our main goal was to make sure Brian's memory lived on and was not forgotten," said his mother. "And we've established that."

  When the first Brian Moss scholarship was presented at Sperry High School, the crowd gave the family a standing ovation.

  "I was very emotional, but honored," Pat Moss said. "The school has done so much for our family and supported any activity to raise money for the scholarship. In each application the kids filled out, they said it would be their honor to receive the scholarship."

  Moss raked in military honors including the 2000-01 Naval District Washington Sailor of the Year, Navy and Marine achievement awards on three separate occasions and a spot on the prestigious Naval Ceremonial Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

  As a member of the ceremonial guard, he trained young sailors and performed in countless ceremonies including the Presidential Inauguration and the burials of those who died aboard the U.S.S. Cole.

  Moss received a full military burial at Arlington National Cemetery in October.

  Petty Officer 1st Class George Coulsin served with Moss and remembers him as having an "immaculate" uniform and being "forthcoming."

  "If you needed a picture of a model sailor -- of what a sailor should be and how to act -- Brian Moss was that person," Coulsin said. "He loved the Navy and was always squared away. The Navy was his life, along with his wife and children."

• Wayne Terrial Davis

  

  After graduating from Edmond Memorial High School in 1989, Wayne Terrial Davis enlisted in the U.S. Army.

  In the military, Davis fought on the front lines during Operation Desert Storm. He achieved the rank of Sergeant 1st Class.

  "He always wanted to do that from the time he was 6 years old," said his mother Noverta Davis of Oklahoma City.

  After eight years, Davis decided to retire from military life and attend college.

  Days after completing work for a bachelor's degree in computer systems at the University of Maryland, he was killed on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower.

  Davis, 29, was a senior sales engineer for Callixa Corp. and was in New York City for a sales conference. Three employees from Callixa were killed while attending a trade show at the Windows of the World in the World Trade Center.

  Noverta Davis plans to be in Arizona Wednesday, with her three grandchildren and her son's widow.

  Tanya Davis, a former Navy officer, is Davis' widow and her children are Mathew, 10, Gabrielle, 3 and Malachai, 21 months old.

  Noverta Davis said her son's death is still too upsetting to discuss.

  "We have a lot of mixed emotions," she said. "One minute, I want everyone to know how wonderful he is. In the next, I want people to leave us alone and let us go on with our lives. But then, we'd be mad if no one called to know how we're doing. So we have mixed emotions."

• David Harlow Rice

  

  "Your son saved my life," were words Hugh and Cindy Rice heard repeatedly at memorial services last year.

  David Harlow Rice went from a rambunctious child and teenage substance abuser to Fulbright Scholar and influential rehabilitation counselor.

  "David lived a full 31 years, certainly more than I lived in my 62," said Hugh Rice. "Nothing surprises me about what David does. But he felt sobriety was a matter of life and death for him. We didn't know he touched so many lives in so many ways."

  Rice made extra money in high school by renting warehouses for parties and charging an entry fee. That's when he began abusing drugs and alcohol.

  Charming and charismatic, he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in 1988 at Bishop McGuiness High School in Oklahoma City.

  "David was the type of person who would make you feel like you were his best friend in the world and he was your best friend," his father said.

  "He was real passionate."

  But the party-boy lifestyle took its toll when he almost got kicked out of Loyola University in Chicago. His family helped him take the first steps into rehabilitation.

  "He had great determination and asked for our help," said Hugh Rice. "He just knew it was a dead-end street."

  Returning to Loyola, he graduated with honors and won the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled him to study in South Africa and Zimbabwe for one year. He later earned a master's degree from the London School of Economics.

  His role as counselor in a campus student rehabilitation center and founder of an Alcoholics Anonymous chapter in South Africa brought him as much recognition.

  Rice stayed up with recovering addicts late at night, checked on them every day, ate meals with them and spoke to students about the dangers of substance abuse.

  "David became so serious about the problems of drugs and alcohol and was so willing to help others," said Cindy Rice. "He was so steady about helping others that I'm sure he would still be doing that today. It was such an awakening to find out how many people he touched."

  After 10 years in Chicago, he transferred to New York in February 2001 as an investor in bonds at Sandler O'Neill & Partners. Rice worked on the 104th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

  When the first jet crashed into the north tower, he called his parents in Oklahoma City to recount what he had witnessed and assure them of his safety. But he never called back.

  Rice's body was among the first found in the rubble. He was buried in Oklahoma City six days after the attacks.

  Bishop McGuiness High School has a scholarship in his name, to be given to students who "give of themselves," said Hugh Rice.

  New York documentary filmmaker Rachael Zabar created a 20-minute film about Rice, called "One Life." The film won the grand prize at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts graduate film program.

  It will air on Showtime as part of a series called "Reflections from Ground Zero" at 7 p.m. on Monday, 5:15 p.m. on Sept. 11 and 3 p.m. on Sept. 14.

• Maj. Ron Milam

  

  It was the second trip to see his new grandson that brought Tommie Milam to tears.

  Ron Milam Jr. was born Jan. 6 -- almost four months after his father, Maj. Ronald Milam, was killed in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon.

  "When I saw him the first time when he was born, you can't really see a child's features," said the Tulsa Edison math teacher.

  "But when I visited them in August, it brought tears to my eyes because he looks just like his dad. But it was a very rewarding and therapeutic time with them."

  Milam, 33, graduated from Muskogee High School, where he earned a reputation as a leader, starring as a point guard on the basketball team.

  He continued to play basketball at Panhandle State on scholarship, then transferred to Eastern New Mexico State University.

  In New Mexico, Milam received an ROTC commission and was sent to Germany after graduation. He also served in Saudi Arabia and South Korea. He continued to play basketball in military leagues.

  The Muskogee school district is dedicating the high school gymnasium in Milam's name. The ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Sept. 13.

  Tommie Milam said a military base in Texas also is dedicating its basketball gym to his son.

  "The outpouring of love and kindness that people have shown has meant so much to me," said Tommie Milam. "And the love people have shown for Ron means so much. He touched so many people's lives.

  "All of the dedications are nice and touch my heart, but it's really the kindness people have shown that has moved me more than anything."

  For the last two years of his life, Milam was assigned to the Pentagon as assistant to the Secretary of the Army.

  Milam was married to an Air Force captain, Jacqueline, and had a daughter, Myejoy, now 2. Several months after the attacks, his wife appeared with 30 other widows on the cover of People magazine. They stood with their babies born after Sept. 11 -- 32 infants in all.

  Calling Sept. 11 an "anniversary" makes Tommie Milam a little uneasy.

  "For those who lost loved ones, it's a rather personal day," he said. "I expect that day to be memorialized from now on because it was an upsetting tragedy that happened."

  Milam is also survived by his mother, Effie Milam, an English teacher at Muskogee High School; a brother, Steven Milam of Dallas; and a sister, Stephanie Milam of Tulsa.

• Sunny Wells

  

  At the Arlington National Cemetery burial of Army Spec. Chin Sun Pak Wells, friends and family remembered her as a happy person and loyal friend.

  With the nickname "Sunny," the 24-year- old from Lawton was known for sending uplifting e-mails, having a stocked candy dish on her desk at the Pentagon and being a good soldier.

  Actress Lynda Carter, who played "Wonder Woman" on the 1970s television program, has become close to Wells' family.

  "Sunny watched 'Wonder Woman' growing up, and Lynda Carter found out and formed a bond with the family," said co- worker Sgt. 1st Class Charles Tench.

  "When you put this into perspective, here you have a young specialist who served a short tour in the Army and was tragically killed in the terrorist attacks. The fact that Wonder Woman would take time out of her schedule to honor one of her many fans is quite amazing and nice to see."

  Co-workers describe Wells as having an easy-going, fun-loving and cheerful personality. Tench has kept some of her e-mails on his computer and looks at them from time to time.

  "She sent out mail that was spiritual, emotional or just a good laugh," Tench said. "She would screen these and decide we needed to see it. She found some really funny, crazy stuff."

  Wells was engaged to an Army sergeant, who was also assigned to the Pentagon but had the day off on Sept. 11.

  They had planned to marry in March, and she was scheduled to leave the service in February to study medicine.

  Just two days shy of her 25th birthday, Wells was on the phone when terrorists crashed a jetliner into her building.

  The last words she spoke on the phone were, "Oh my God."

  "She was a team player and did what needed to be done at work," Tench said. "Emotions are running high here, and we all react differently.

  "With the anniversary coming up, we are looking things over and emotions are popping back up. You miss those people you knew and you miss the things they did."

  Wells enlisted in the Army two days before Christmas in 1997. After completing basic training and advanced individual training, she was sent to serve at the 8th Army headquarters in Korea.

  As a personnel specialist, she was then assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel in the Pentagon.

  Wells graduated from Lawton Eisenhower High School in 1995 and is survived by her father, Norman Wells; her mother, Kum Wells; and two younger brothers.

• Jay Shah

  

  When Niloy Shah tucks his nieces and nephew into bed at night, they have a constant request.

  "They always want to hear stories about their dad, even if it's a 15-second story," Shah said. "Then they love to hear the story again. They like the crazy ones of things their dad used to do. We have lots of memories, videos and pictures."

  Jayesh "Jay" Shah, 38, left his family full of stories to tell.

  He was killed, along with 730 co-workers, in the north tower of the World Trade Center. He was the vice president of eSpeed International, the electronic business arm of Cantor Fitzgerald financial services.

  As brothers, Niloy and Jay Shah could not have been closer. They spoke nearly every day, shared a passion for sports and held family near to their hearts.

  "I tape record messages to him in my car," said Niloy Shah. "Our lives are so busy that the only quiet time is going to and from work. So I leave messages for him as if he were still here -- like if the Lakers extended their winning streak."

  But there is another file of recordings Niloy Shah has created -- a sort of oral memorial of stories about his brother told by friends and family.

  "It feels good and it reinforces the type of connection we had, but it also makes me miss him. But the reality is that the time we spent together was quality and meaningful."

  Jay Shah left a widow and three children -- Nikita, 10, Sonia, 8, and Kevin, 7. After his death, the family moved to Houston, and now are near Niloy Shah and his family.

  "The children have been clingy to me recently, and I can't spend enough time with them," said Niloy Shah.

  Jay Shah graduated from Memorial High School in 1980 and completed a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in 1984.

  With the oil business going bust, he went back to TU for a master's degree in computer science, graduating in 1987.

  His first job was with Amoco in Tulsa. He was later transferred to the company's Houston office.

  He then worked for several gas marketers before deciding to change careers and take a position as vice president of technology at eSpeed in New York.

  "I told his children that I'm going to take them to Tulsa one day to show them where their dad went to school, where he went to college, where we lived and where he worked," said Niloy Shah. "And they are really excited about that."

  For the one-year remembrance of his death, the Shah family will be going back to New York for citywide memorials.

• David Shelby Berry

  

  David Shelby Berry's reputation as one of the nation's top banking analysts has not been forgotten with a dedication on a Securities and Exchange Corp. report, two trees in a New York park and a fund to benefit his high school alma mater.

  The 43-year-old was the executive vice president and director of research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., which was located on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower.

  His mother, Nancy Michaels Berry, is a lifelong Tulsan who now lives in New York City. She graduated from Holland Hall in 1945 and has two degrees from the University of Oklahoma.

  "It's amazing the outpouring of love from friends all over the world," she said. "Our lives were enriched by knowing David."

  Just before the south tower was hit, Berry had called his mother and father, Oklahoma City attorney Charles N. Berry Jr., to assure them of his safety.

  Berry was on the phone with his wife, Paula, when the line went silent after the second plane crashed into the tower.

  Berry's sons -- Nile Philip, 10, Reed Nicholas, 8, and Alexander Ashton, 6 -- are getting ready to start school and "are thriving," Nancy Michaels Berry said.

  After attending Oklahoma City's Casady School, Berry graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and physics. In 1984, he received a Diploma of Distinction from the London School of Economics.

  Having testified before Congress several times on banking issues, Berry was a favorite guest on television broadcasts on CNBC and PBS and often was quoted in financial newspapers.

  His mother called a dedication of a December 2001 Security and Exchange Corp. report to her son a "quite remarkable" memorial.

  The Oklahoma City Foundation has a fund in Berry's name to benefit Casady School.

  Berry's family planted two trees -- one the Oklahoma state tree, a redbud -- in Prospect Park, located within blocks of his family's home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

  Two memorial services were held for Berry during the past year with each attracting more than 500 people.

  "Our family is doing wonderful," said Nancy Michaels Berry. "Everyone in our family is close. We're all lucky to have each other."

  In addition to his parents and immediate family, Berry is survived by brothers Nelson and Michael of Seattle.

  The Berry and Michaels families have had a presence in Oklahoma for at least 70 years. Berry's maternal grandfather, William Michaels, came to Tulsa about 1930 and was a charter officer of the Southern Hills Country Club.