VIDEO TRIBUTE
Video tribute from Virginia Tech for the victims of the April 16, 2007 massacre.
Virginia Tech's Drillfield was aglow tonight as a crowd estimated at 10,000 by school officials assembled for a candlelight vigil on the second anniversary of the massacre.
Beginning at 8:30 p.m., the name of each of the 32 victims was read and candles were lit in their memory.
By 8:45 p.m., the field was ablaze with the flames of 10,000 candles.
When a bugler from the Corps of Cadets finished playing Taps, the candles were held high by the crowd.
They remained there through the singing of "Amazing Grace" by a university chorale group, and when the chant, "Let's Go, Hokies" struck up, the candles were pushed even higher.
After a day of commemorative events, the evening ceremony was comparatively brief.
Earlier today, Tech President Charles W. Steger said the university has "traveled some distance on the path to healing" after the 2007 massacre of students and teachers, but "the journey is not over."
Steger told about 3,000 people assembled on the Drillfield, "We have all drawn strength from the powerful and absolutely amazing spirit of community within this Virginia Tech family . . .
"We have searched for answers and we have searched for meaning in what is incomprehensible." Steger said the university community is beginning to find the purpose and direction to calm the turmoil from the injuries and death inflicted by student Seung-Hui Cho, who took his own life after the killings.
The ceremony was in front of Norris Hall, where all but two of the victims were slain. Last week, the second floor and scene of the killings reopened there.
"Each day is less somber than the last," said Ishwar K. Puri, professor and head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department.
Steger said he hoped families would take comfort in the remembrance of each victim.
"We will never. We will never forget those who were injured or those who were taken from us," he said.
After Steger's speech, the names of the victims along with a statement about each of them were read. One victim was inadvertently left off the reading, and a Tech official immediately apologized and read the name and personal statement to the crowd.
The day started with a 3.2-mile road race in honor of the 32 who lost their lives. About 4,000 runners and walkers took part, including several students who were hurt in the shootings and family members of victims.
The race began with the release of 32 white balloons in memory of those slain.
Through the day, a rotating honor guard kept watch over a single memorial candle that was lit last midnight. It is to be extinguished tonight at 11:59.
Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.
Staff writer Paul Woody contributed to this report.
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