Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Profiling the Victims at Virginia Tech
Aired April 22, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CENTER, ATLANTA: I'm Rick Sanchez at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
A special tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre is straight ahead. But first, a check of the headlines for you.
U.S. soldiers, five of them were killed, 11 wounded, in weekend attacks in and around Baghdad. And one other soldier died from a non- combat-related cause.
This brings the total number of American military deaths in the Iraq war to 3,322.
Execution style killings in the city of Mosul. Gunmen singled out 21 men from a busload of textile workers. The victims were all members of a religious minority.
Investigators say that Seung-Hui Cho may have used eBay to purchase empty ammunition clips for one of the guns he used in the Virginia Tech rampage. Authorities say that they're following every possible lead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MCDONNELL, VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're trying to rule out whether there was any assistance. Every indication is that it was this madman, Cho, acting alone. But we have directed the state police to not stop until they've ruled out every possible theory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: New details on the Blue Angels air show tragedy in South Carolina. The Navy says that the pilot's family watched as his F-18 Hornet plummeted, killing him. Eight people on the ground were also hurt. As you know, as we follow that story for you.
And some good news on New Jersey Governor John Corzine. He's finally able to talk with his family and some of the hospital staff we understand, as well.
Doctors took out his breathing tube Friday, eight days after Corzine was badly injured in a car accident. He remains in critical, but now stable, condition, as well.
Australian officials have called off the search for three men missing off the Great Barrier Reef. Their catamaran was found Wednesday with nobody onboard. Police believe the men were swept off the boat when it hit some rough seas a week ago. Experts say there's little to no chance that the men are still alive.
I'll be back about 10 p.m. Eastern when the NEWSROOM returns. We're going to have a lot more on the Blue Angels jet crash, including new and exclusive video of this. And I'm also going to be talking one-on-one with Pensacola, Florida, mayor, John Fogg. He's a former Blue Angel himself.
Coming up next, though, Kiran Chetry takes a special look back at the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, 32 lives to remember.
That's next, right here on CNN.
KIRAN CHETRY, HOST, "32 LIVES TO REMEMBER": From the tragedy of the Virginia Tech massacre, there are faces of people we barely knew, but now are etched forever in our hearts and minds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are our family. The people who have been hurt are our family. We're going to be there for our family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: They were sons, daughters, fathers - all family. We cherish their memory as we learn more about how they lived and worked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will never forgot. With evil comes good. You are all in a higher place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We celebrate the legacy of these individuals in a CNN special, "32 Lives to Remember."
Good evening, I'm Kiran Chetry.
Last Monday's unspeakable tragedy at Virginia Tech brought out so many emotions in all of us - pain, anguish, even uncertainty about the future.
But as the days have passed, we've learned that the 32 victims of those shootings are a beacon for all of us. They were bright, mostly young, and they were eager to make their mark on the world.
Some had already known pain. One was a Holocaust survivor. Another had witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon.
And as you'll see in this program, all 32 of them have a story to tell.
We start with Ryan Clark.
Members of Ryan's band family and friends were in Evans, Georgia, as his alma mater, Lakeside High School, held a memorial in honor of their slain loved one.
Bryan graduated from Lakeside in 2003.
He was supposed to graduate next month with degrees in biology and English, and then he planned to pursue a Ph.D. He played in the Hokies marching band. And he also served as a dormitory resident assistant, a job that placed him directly in the line of fire that day of terrible violence.
Our Alina Cho has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a smile on his face, Ryan Clark was always eager to help. He was among the first to encounter the gunman at the site of the first shooting, Ambler Johnston Hall. The R.A. was also among the first to die, leaving his twin brother devastated.
BRYAN CLARK, BROTHER OF RYAN CLARK: A great person, a giving individual. Always willing to do for others.
CHO: The Virginia Tech senior, who friends called "Stack," was studying biology and English, and hoped for a Ph.D. in psychology. His friends say he loved making T-shirts, but his real passion - playing baritone horn in the Marching Virginians band.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A young man with a bright future. Very driven in anything he chose to do.
CHO: He volunteered, too. Ryan, just 22, worked at the local food bank and spent every summer working with the mentally disabled.
NADIA CLARK, SISTER OF RYAN CLARK: He lived a full life for someone his age. He was happy. He was doing what he wanted to do.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Like Ryan Clark, Jamie Bishop originally called Georgia home. But he found a place for himself at Virginia Tech. A one-time Fulbright Scholar, he taught German and he oversaw a program that sent Tech students to Germany to improve their skills.
Harry Samler of WGCL has more from Jamie Bishop's hometown.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
HARRY SAMLER, WGCL-TV, ATLANTA, GEORGIA (voice-over): Jamie Bishop - at 35 he accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. He grew up just off Pine Mountain Square, the son of a college creative writing professor.
Jamie helped design the cover of his dad's science fiction novels. His mom is a counselor at Rosemont Elementary, just outside town. Her principal was there when mom got the news about her son. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I followed her home and made sure she was with her husband. And, you know, worry, just intense worry, and making sure. And Ms. Bishop and her family are the kind of people that worry about all the children on the campus.
SAMLER: Jamie was valedictorian at Harris County High School. One of Jamie's teachers spent the day today honoring one of her favorite students.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've taught 24 years. And I guess I'd say, if you have the top echelon of students over your career, Jamie's obviously in that cut. Obviously.
SAMLER: After high school, Jamie went to Georgia. A Fulbright Scholar who studied in Germany, he finally settled down and taught at Virginia Tech.
On his Web page he proudly shows a picture of his wife, also a professor. A husband and the kind of son that makes a parent proud.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Jamie Bishop oversaw Virginia Tech's partnership with Darmstadt University in Germany. A Darmstadt spokesman says that Bishop had many friends there, and that the school has now set up a book of condolences for students, faculty and staff to sign.
There's so much more to share about the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, including a student who had already seen tragedy first hand when he witnessed one of the planes on 9/11 crash into the Pentagon.
Plus, how the Virginia Tech community is coming together to honor those who were lost.
You're watching "32 Lives to Remember" on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In such times as this, we look for sources of strength to sustain us. And in this moment of loss, you're finding these sources everywhere around you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to "32 Lives to Remember." I'm Kiran Chetry.
Daniel Cueva was an accomplished student, a swimmer, a soccer player. And even before he died, he had already witnessed tragedy first hand.
In fact, the events of September 11, 2001, helped make him who he was. Here's CNN's Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-one-year- old Daniel Alejandro Perez Cueva - one name among so many young victims. He died in Norris Hall in French class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was awesome. Just a great friend to everyone. He cared about everyone.
COSTELLO: Marilee Smith (ph) studied with him. Says he loved learning. He would push his friends to discover the world outside of the United States.
Perez came to the United States from Peru in 2000. He and his sister were near the Pentagon on 9/11. They saw the plane, the sorrow. That's why Perez was in Virginia Tech's international studies program. He wanted to save the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He spoke four languages. And it was just always fun just to have a conversation with him.
COSTELLO: His parents spoke only Spanish. He lived with his mother in Virginia. His bedroom there still has his swimming trophies and pictures of his childhood friends.
His father is home in Peru. He told CNN that the United States has refused him to visit to attend his son's funeral.
I met his sister, Mariella (ph), at the airport in Roanoke, Virginia. Too devastated to talk on camera, she told me her husband is stuck in Iraq. So, his friends will try to fill the void.
Just one of many great guys and girls whose families now grieve them.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Daniel Cueva was 21 years old. He died doing what he loved, studying language in Norris Hall.
Senior Jarrett Lane grew up in a small town just 30 miles from the Virginia Tech campus. He was valedictorian at his high school, and he was looking forward to graduation next month.
His mother said it means a lot to her that the school plans to award degrees to the students who died in the attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
TRACEY LANE, MOTHER OF JARRETT LANE: Jarrett was so proud to be a Hokie. He was a Hokie through and through. He had no other ambition except to go to Tech and into engineering, and to go on to graduate school. He would call me up. He would send me pictures over his cell phone. He would be going to football games, and I can remember he sent me one. He was all in red paint - in red and orange paint.
And he said, "Mom, we're going to the game. We're going to cheer."
And I said, "Don't you think you ought to put a shirt on?"
He said, "Oh, no." The orange shirt was all painted up. And, of course, he had sent me a picture. And there he was, all painted up. You couldn't even tell who he was.
And I said, "Well, how was it?"
And he said, "Well, we got a couple of funny looks and a couple of stares. And even people stopped just to have pictures taken."
I said, "Did you have a good time?"
He said, "I always have a good time."
But aside from that, Jarrett knew what he was there at Tech for. He was there for an education. And he was serious. He was a serious student. Anybody can tell you that.
Besides his fun-loving personality, his first thing was being a student. Jarrett worked so hard the last four years. And he was so close.
He knew he was going to graduate. He had bought his cap and gown. He did everything to prepare for graduation.
And to be so close and yet not to walk, it really - it really touches me as a mom, that they decided to do that. And I'll be there.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Jarrett Lane's high school has built a memorial in his honor featuring pictures, musical instruments and athletic jerseys.
One of the first victim's to be buried, he was laid to rest in his hometown of Narrows, Virginia.
When we return, he had a worldwide reputation as an aeronautical engineer. But he rarely talked about surviving the Holocaust.
Liviu Librescu died protecting his students on Holocaust Remembrance Day. His story ahead on "32 Lives to Remember."
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to "32 Lives to Remember." I'm Kiran Chetry. G.V. Loganathan was a respected researcher and teacher. An engineer by training, he also won awards for his ability to teach others what he knew.
Our Seth Doane reports that his death has caused pain for family and friends half a world away.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
SETH DOANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEW DELHI, INDIA: A mother's tears.
"I brought him up very dearly," she says, "because he was very brilliant."
Family and friends of one of the victims in the Virginia Tech shooting gather in south India.
G.V. Loganathan, a 51-year-old professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was killed in his classroom.
G.B. PALANIVEL, BROTHER OF G.V. LOGANATHAN: The thing is, we are all shell-shocked. We do not know what to do. It is a heavy blow. It is a terrific blow.
DOANE: At the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Professor Loganathan's alma mater, teachers and students are shocked.
"It is very saddening to know of his death," he says. "He was a very simple person. He had completed his research in civil engineering from here. He was a very respected man."
It's a story unfolding in the United States that's leaving tears, shock and sadness half a world away.
Seth Doane, CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Here in the U.S., Virginia Tech student, Lauren McCain, was originally from Oklahoma. Her uncle told the Oklahoma newspaper that she knew German and had almost mastered Latin.
She was also deeply religious young woman. Her grandmother says she was determined to share her convictions with others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERN MARTIN, GRANDMOTHER OF LAUREN MCCAIN: They told me, they said, "Fern," they said, "Lauren's not with us anymore."
I said, "Why?" I said, "Is she on her way here?"
And he said, "No, they had a shooting over there."
I heard her say one time she'd like to be a missionary. And she wanted to get all the education she could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Lauren McCain was majoring in international studies. She was just 20 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of courage.
We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu.
The gunman - with the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: President Bush honored the memory of Professor Liviu Librescu during a speech Wednesday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, blocked the doorway to his classroom, so that his students could escape.
He died on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
CNN's Atika Shubert spoke with his son in Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT, TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (voice-over): Professor Liviu Librescu lived to teach.
ARIEH LIBRESCU, SON OF LIVIU LIBRESCU: That's what woke him up in the morning. Teaching and doing research - that was his food. That was the food to his soul.
SHUBERT: Monday morning in room 204 of Norris Hall, Professor Librescu was doing a slideshow for his engineering students when gunshots rang out a couple of classrooms away.
Librescu's students say their 76-year-old professor moved quickly, blocking the door to give his class time to escape.
Two were wounded, but all survived - all except Professor Librescu.
Librescu's story is a tale of survival and triumph. Born into a Jewish family in Romania, he survived the Holocaust. But like so many survivors, his son says he didn't like to talk about his past.
JOE LIBRESCU, SON OF LIVIU LIBRESCU: His father was sent out to a labor camp, and himself with the family was sent out to a concentration city. We shared these, his experiences, even though he was rather, sort of a closed person. He didn't come out with all the information all at once.
SHUBERT: This child of the Holocaust went on to become one of the world's top aeronautical engineers. He spent several years teaching in Tel Aviv.
But in 1985, he found a home in Blacksburg, Virginia, teaching at Virginia Tech for more than two decades - a job that consumed his life.
JOE LIBRESCU: First of all, he was a scientist first and a father second. As a father, he was demanding. He was a strong person. He was very strong in nature. I never saw him cry.
SHUBERT: His sudden death has been difficult to process, especially for his son.
Professor Liviu Librescu lived to teach. He died for his students.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEO)
CHETRY: Liviu Librescu was laid to rest Friday in Israel. An official from Librescu's native Romania was there, and he awarded Romania's highest medal to Librescu for his scientific work and his heroism.
Friends say Virginia Tech graduate student, Daniel O'Neil, was smart, responsible and hardworking.
He was a teaching assistant and a guitar player who had his own band. Neighbors on the Rhode Island street where he grew up were stunned at the news of his death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MARTY LIGHTBOWN, NEIGHBOR OF DANIEL O'NEIL: Nice kid. Always skateboarding, always around the neighborhood, you know. And now he went to college. I haven't seen him in a few years. But an excellent kid.
CLIFF MAZER, NEIGHBOR OF DANIEL O'NEIL: It's shocking to me that this could happen. It's shocking to me to think that my next-door neighbor, the child they had was involved. It's hard to believe. It's absolutely hard to believe.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHETRY: One friend described Daniel O'Neil as "destined to be extremely successful."
Daniel O'Neil was just 22 years old.
The day after the massacre at Virginia Tech, they invited the entire community to a convocation at the campus coliseum to remember those who died.
It was there that popular professor and poet, Nikki Giovanni, delivered some stirring remarks. She brought the crowd to its feet with a single message: We will prevail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI GIOVANNI, VIRGINIA TECH PROFESSOR: We are Virginia Tech. The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid.
We are better than we think, and not quite what we want to be.
We are alive to the imagination and the possibility. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all the sadness.
We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Let's go Hokies!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Nikki Giovanni is a nationally known poet. She's been a member of the Virginia Tech faculty for the past 20 years.
We'll continue our remembrance of those who died at Virginia Tech in just a moment, including a proud father who shares touching memories of his daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER READ, FATHER OF MARY READ: Everybody loved Mary, and Mary loved everybody. I don't know of anybody that could possibly have had a cross word for her or a bad thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching "32 Lives to Remember" on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mary Karen Read, freshman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Mary Read was typical of so many college freshman - happy to be in school, but still finding her way on a new campus filled with new experiences.
Her father told CNN's Jim Clancy that his daughter's faith was strong and that she was simply a joy to be around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER READ, FATHER OF MARY READ: Everybody loved Mary, and Mary loved everybody. I don't know of anybody that could possibly have had a cross word for her or a bad thought.
I'm sure every parent says that about their child. But in Mary's case, I think it was universally recognized.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you want the world to know about Mary Karen?
READ: I want the world to know that Mary was selfless. She was focused on service to others. She was here to major in elementary education, because she wanted to help and teach children. She loved children. And that's really what she wanted to do with her life.
CLANCY: Mary Karen was very proud of her Korean heritage as well.
READ: Mary and her brother are very proud of the fact that they have a foot in both worlds, and through their mother and their Korean heritage and, of course, through our family here in America, and they both exemplified the very best of what they received from their parents.
CLANCY: And she was comfortable balancing between two worlds, bringing them together?
READ: Well, again, that was her gift in this life. Was that she brought people together and she bridged divides and gaps and that's one divide and one gap that I think even now she's going to help bridge.
CLANCY: When you went to her dorm room, very difficult job, packing up her belongings. You pulled out some of the things that she had there.
READ: Yes.
CLANCY: As her own keepsakes.
READ: Mary had some pictures, and she had some scriptural quotations from Jeremiah 29:11, that I would like to share with you, and she inserted her own name.
"For I know the plans I have for you, Mary, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
And that just so much reflects her faith and her optimism and her big hopes and dreams for the future to be able to learn and to grow and to serve and especially to help children.
She had pictures with some of her very good friends, and this is one I especially like with her very good friend Danielle. They went to high school together.
You see them here with the ropes from their French honor society, and Mary was in French class on Monday morning, and I have another one here that Mary had with her other very good friend Mary Draper from their National Honor Society induction, and what I want you to understand about my daughter and about all the -- all these sons and daughters, they are the best that this generation had to offer, and they were here at Virginia Tech because they believed in this school and this community, and they believed it would help them go out into the world and do great things for other people, and so even though we're talking about my daughter and that's, of course, what's closest to me, I want everyone to be thinking about each and every one of our sons and daughters as individuals and as human beings who were really the best and the brightest that our generation had to offer, and we were all so proud of every one of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Mary Read's aunt says that her niece had recently been looking into campus sororities and had made recent friends. In her words, quote, "I think she wanted to try to spread her wings."
Reema Samaha planned to study urban living and international relations. She was an 18-year-old freshman who loved to dance. In fact, her father told our Wolf Blitzer that he and Reema's mother had come to campus before the shootings to see her perform.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: When was the last time you had a chance to speak to Reema.
JOSEPH SAMAHA, REEMA'S FATHER: Luckily, I'm fortunate. My wife is fortunate. We were down here on Saturday and Sunday for a couple of dance events.
BLITZER: She was performing.
J. SAMAHA: She was performing on Saturday, and on Sunday there was a festival, international festival at the university, and she also performed there.
She taught a lot of the students the folk dance, Lebanese folk dance, and she had a wonderful time. We were with her Saturday and Sunday, and we said good-bye Sunday evening rather, and that was the last we spoke to her or saw her. We were to come back next weekend for another event but, unfortunately, that's not going to happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Several days ago I had the chance to speak one-on-one with Reema Samaha's older brother Omar. He was emotional and candid about how hard his sister's death hit the close-knit family, a family full of love and respect for one another
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR SAMAHA, REEMA'S BROTHER: She was an amazing person, high more or less, high standards, high values, and I really respected her and I looked up to her for that.
CHETRY: When did you find out that your sister was one of the people that was shot and killed?
O. SAMAHA: We couldn't find anything out all morning, all early afternoon yesterday so I called all her friends. One of her best friends got back to me and told me that she actually had a class in that building, and I immediately just shut myself in for it and I couldn't get my bearings. Because I didn't want to believe that she was in there.
CHETRY: So your parents had to come down as well and you told me you're very worried about them.
O. SAMAHA: Yeah, I am. The worst part of it is my sister died, but I -- I'm really worried about my family too right now.
CHETRY: You said your mom has been crying. What do you say to her? What does she say?
O. SAMAHA: I can't say anything to her. I just try -- I try to get her to stop crying, but I can't, and I know that. The only thing I can do is I cry with her. This is just a tragedy to us.
CHETRY: How do you want people to remember your sister?
O. SAMAHA: I want people to remember how she always gave it what she had and even more than what she had, how she always excelled in everything. She was so smart and bright. Whatever she put her mind to she could do, and I want people to remember her moral values, her ethics, her standards, because, I mean, the values that she had was something that I strive to do. I strive to have those values, just remember how she always, you know, had a good time. She always made us laugh. She could light up a room. That's what she did.
From what I've learned in my life with losing past friends, you never know when someone might die, so I always make it a point before I leave to say good-bye because you never know when it's going to be the last time. When I saw her Sunday after her dance show I couldn't say good-bye because she was getting ready and changing for her next dance and I had to hurry off to a soccer game, so I just left because I figured I would call her later or I would come back next weekend.
CHETRY: So if you had your chance again to say good-bye to her, what would you have said?
O. SAMAHA: That I love you and I'm so proud of you and I'm happy about everything that you've done and that I look up to you even though she's my little sister.
CHETRY: So you think she knows that?
O. SAMAHA: She does now at least.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And Reema wanted to follow in other older brother's footsteps. Omar had also graduated from Virginia Tech. And Reema Samaha graduated from the same Centreville High School as another shooting victim, Erin Peterson. The former classmates at Westfield High School are remembering them with these makeshift memorials and like Reeme, Erin Peterson also planned to study international relations and her father said he saw her last Sunday during a visit to the campus the day before the shootings.
Two parents managed to see through their grief and find something positive. When we return, grad student's Jeremy Herbstrit's parents say how they will remember their son and also we'll tell you what you can do to help the Virginia Tech community.
You're watching "32 Lives to Remember" on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to "32 Lives to Remember." People across the country observed Friday's day of mourning for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Moments of silence brought business to a halt, even on the floors of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In observance of Governor Kaine's request I ask that the house join our nation for a moment of silence at this time.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: Just a moment, Mr. President, we will stand in silence in recognition of the tragedy in Virginia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: For 20-year-old Matthew La Porte of Dumont, New Jersey, the military was a big part of his life. His training started in high school, and now the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets is mourning one of its own. Once again, here's CNN's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matthew La Porte might have been an officer in the Air Force. At Virginia Tech he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, grew up in Dumont, New Jersey. His parents still live there, and Marie Grieco lives next door
MARIE GRIECO, NEIGHBOR: When they come home, I'm just going to break down in tears. I don't know what to say. Sorry.
CHO: As a young boy Matthew played little league and worked as a lifeguard. He went to a military academy for high school and graduated third in his class. In his yearbook page he wrote, "He changed so much that i am not quite sure that if that boy and I are the same person."
LT. GARY HALLMAN, CARSON LONG MILITARY INSTITUTE: I feel like I've lost a brother and it's extremely painful.
CHO: The La Portes attended church every Sunday. Since the shooting Father James Bouffard was among the few to meet with the family
REV. JAMES BOUFFARD, SACRED HEART CHURCH: What do you do? You cry with them and give them a lot of hugs.
CHO: Matthew, just 20 years old, was a sophomore at Virginia Tech doing what a lot of college kids do, logging on to his MySpace page. His final entry, April 15th, the day before he died.
GRIECO: So unnecessary, his whole life was ahead of him. I mean, and I know he would have accomplished so much because he was so bright, such a waste of a beautiful life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: There is, of course, no way to express the grief that a parent feels at the loss of a child. Many could not imagine anything worse, in fact, but in recent days we've seen parents summon amazing strength as they talk about their loss.
Wolf Blitzer this week introduced us to Mike and Peggy Herbstritt, the parents of Jeremy Herbstritt. Jeremy was working towards a master's degree in civil engineering. Like so many others we talked to the couple vowed to find a positive lesson despite their pain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEGGY HERBSTRITT, JEREMY HERBSTRITT'S MOTHER: It will not seem real to me until I actually see his body, but I want to say to my other children, Jeremy loved you very much. I know right now you think of him as being dead, but we can keep him alive in our hearts. We will find a way to make this -- make some kind of positive out of this so, please, guys, stick together, OK? We love you.
BLITZER: How are your other kids doing?
MIKE HERBSTRITT, JEREMY HERBSTRITT'S FATHER: It's tough. It's tough. They are sad. They are missing their brother, you know, and it's hard to lose your brother. It's hard to lose your son, you know, and on Monday night I was watching some of the newscasters, and I don't think the newscasters really understand how hard it is, you know, to lose your son, you know.
It's really hard, and it hits you right in your heart, you know. That's the whole thing, but we have to go on. We've got to celebrate Jeremy's life. That's going to be the rest our life.
BLITZER: We're trying to do that.
HERBSTRITT: The rest of our lives will be to celebrate his life, to say what he did good and to say that Jeremy was a good boy, a good man, and we're going to love him forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Jeremy Herbstritt had not one but two undergraduate degrees, one in biochemistry and the other in civil engineering. He planned to go into environmental work once he got his master's degree.
Well, one way to help in the recovery at Virginia Tech is to donate to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. You can find a link at the school's Web site at vt.edu. The money will be used to assist victims' families, to cover grief counseling as well as other expenses and scholarships are also being created to honor those who died.
The Virginia Tech community has responded to the crisis in countless ways. More than a dozen memorial boards have become a gathering place for the grieving on campus. We're going to share some of those stories when "32 Lives to Remember" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. A campus and a community shaken by tragedy and united by grief.
It is safe to say that no one could have been prepared for this. My AMERICAN MORNING co-anchor John Roberts took time this week to talk to students and local residents. He found pain, but he also found hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): They have become the new center of gravity at Virginia Tech. Sixteen white poster boards that stand within sight of Norris Hall where 30 people lost their lives. It is in many ways a living memorial. Mourners write. They read. They remember. They grieve.
"I'm glad I hugged the our last practice" one girl writes to Reema Samaha, an urban planning student with a passion for dancing.
"You are the best sister a girl could ask for and heaven is lucky to have you. I love you." That message to Caitlin Hammaren, only 19 years old, majoring in international studies and French.
KAELIE ALTIZER, MOURNER: It's kind of hard to live in the community and be a part of the community and not be touched by this somehow.
ROBERTS: Tracy Altizer and her daughter Kaelie live just down the street from the family of professor G.V. Loganathan. Loganathan, who taught civil and environmental engineering died in Norris Hall on Monday. Kaelie is friends with Loganathan's daughter, now coping with the loss of her dad.
ALTIZER: On Monday when she found out she was really sad and her sister came in from UVA so she's missing her classes, but their mom is taking it a lot harder than what Abi (ph) is taking.
ROBERTS: The messages, notes, photos and flowers are all a chance for mourners to express their emotions in a tangible and public way. The words are there for all to see. Just reading them moves many to tears.
It is far too early to think about healing here, but this coming together, this collective convulsion of grief is the first step on a difficult path to recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "We will never forget. With evil comes good. You are all in a higher place."
ROBERTS: John Roberts, CNN, Blacksburg, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And if you want to know more about the amazing students and faculty members who died in the Virginia Tech shootings log on to our website cnn.com. You can learn the stories behind the photos as told by their families, friends, classmates and loved ones.
And for those of us who were on the Virginia Tech campus this week, they were scenes that we will never forget. Unspeakable pain, heartbreaking moments of grief.
But we also noticed a spirit of community and the belief that they did not want Virginia Tech to be defined by the evil brought to their campus one Monday in April.
They wanted to make it clear that this terrible chapter in one school's history, in one nation's history, won't be the defining chapter for everyone who lived through it, and that is something that we can all hope for.
Thanks again for watching. I'm Kiran Chetry. We leave you with one more look at 32 lives we will always remember.
(MUSIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
