The September 11th attack
Pentagon victim's death considered 'unfair fight'
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Dave Laychak was a quarterback and defensive lineman at Brown University, and his father-in-law says he believes Laychak could have held his own in a fair fight.
Laychak family photo • 2001
"He was strong and he was intelligent," said Jack Miller, a retired Navy commander living in Kailua. "But this was not fair."
The Laychak family is from Manassas, Va., where Laurie is a substitute teacher. She met Dave while working at the Pentagon. From left, they are Laurie, Jennifer, Dave and Zachary.
Laychak was working in the Pentagon's "E ring" as a civilian budget analyst for the Army in Room E471 when a Boeing 757, hijacked by Islamic extremists, smashed into the Pentagon.
Laychak, 40, was among the estimated 125 people who died on the ground Sept. 11. He leaves a wife, Laurie Miller Laychak, a 39-year-old graduate of Hawai'i Baptist Academy; and son, Zachary, 9, and daughter, Jennifer, 7.
Laurie Laychak edited the yearbook and graduated in 1980 while her father was staff officer at Camp Smith for the commander in chief of the Pacific.
She and Laychak met at the Pentagon when she interned one summer, Miller said. They married and settled in Manassas, Va.
Laurie Laychak spent 10 years with NASA before working as a substitute teacher and raising the children. Dave Laychak, the son of a retired Army colonel, was from Alexandria, Va.
Miller said officials have identified Laychak through dental records but have not released his body.
Laurie is frustrated because she doesn't know whether to plan a funeral or memorial service.
"She doesn't want to go through two services," he said.
But their daughter, Jennifer, is certain Laychak is all right. "She says daddy's coming home," Miller said, "because he hadn't taken his toothpaste."
