Asia13 September, 20263 min read
Gold Star Widow Kimberly Hazelgrove Reflects on Brian Hazelgrove’s Iraq Death 25 Years After 9/11
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Kimberly Hazelgrove, a Gold Star widow, reflects on sacrifice 25 years after 9/11. She emphasizes remembering the families of those who sacrificed.
After 9/11, grief endures
Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Gold Star widow Kimberly Hazelgrove said the sacrifice of war does not end when a service member dies, describing how her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Brian Hazelgrove, was killed while serving in Iraq in 2004.
“Our youngest have no memories of their dad.”
Hazelgrove, who serves as national vice president of Gold Star Spouses of America, recalled that her youngest was only six months old when Brian died and her oldest was about 11, meaning each child experienced the loss differently.
She said, "They've had to grow up without their parent, each of them grieving separately, depending on how old they are and their memories," and added, "Our youngest have no memories of their dad."
Hazelgrove said she is also thinking about the nearly 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11 and the first responders who rushed toward danger as the attacks unfolded, telling The National News Desk, "Our life was completely changed on 9/11."
Counseling after Flight 93
In Pennsylvania, grief counselor Patti Anewalt, a Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Volunteer during 9/11, recalled arriving in Shanksville on the afternoon of Sept. 12, 2001, and staying for two weeks.
Anewalt described the Flight 93 crash into a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township at 10:03 a.m., saying the 33 passengers, seven crew members, and four hijackers were killed after passengers and crew members revolted against four al-Qaeda hijackers.
She said her work was to support families and workers emotionally, explaining, "We were assigned to either outside the morgue where the workers were or the crash site," and recalled that families were bused to the crash site.
Anewalt also described a prayer service on the courthouse steps in Somerset County and said, "Everybody was mourning," while keeping letters for 25 years, including one that began, "We felt the shake, heard the boom, and saw the cloud of smoke."
Identifying victims, 25 years later
New York officials said that 25 years after Sept. 11, 2001, officials are still working to identify the remains of 1,099 victims, after the terrorist attack killed 2,753 people in New York City.
KRCG reported that last month the 1,654th victim was identified using forensic investigative genetic genealogy, or FIGG, and that the adult woman whose name is being withheld at her family's request was the first 9/11 victim identified using FIGG and the first newly identified victim since August 2025.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Graham said, "A quarter century after the day that forever changed our world, we are keeping the promise to identify those who died at the World Trade Center in 2001 and return them to their loved ones," while Mark Desire, assistant director at the City of New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner, said the effort is "not only the largest forensic investigation in the United States but also the most difficult."
The report said FIGG combines specialized DNA testing with genealogical research to generate leads that can then be confirmed through DNA or other forensic methods, and that city officials said the tool can produce leads that otherwise might not have been possible.