Today, 9-11, is a somber date for our country. Today marks the seventh year since the terrifying tragedies in Washington, D.C., and Manhattan. As we reflect on where we were when we heard, how things have changed since that day and how many lives have been lost or changed, DMU remembers one of our own lost that day.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Sandra D. Teague, DMU class of ’98, boarded American Airlines Flight 77 for her dream adventure to Australia. Later that morning, terrorists crashed her plane into the Pentagon, killing everyone aboard.
Sandra graduated from Des Moines University in May 1998 with a Master of Science in Physical Therapy. She worked at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines until 2000, when she moved to Washington, D.C., for a position as a physical therapist at Georgetown University Hospital.
To honor the memory of Sandra and to memorialize her dedication to her chosen profession, the Physical Therapy Program, P.T. Class of 1998 and Sandra’s family established the Sandra Teague Memorial Scholarship. The honor is awarded during graduation week to a physical therapy graduate who emulates the giving nature and positive outlook evident through Sandra’s life.
Please remember Sandra today by reflecting on one of her favorite sayings: “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good I can do, or any kindness that I can show, let me do now, for I shall not pass this way again.”
The photo attached to this blog was taken by Kari Smith, D.P.T., ’98, DMU Physical Therapy Clinic manager and one of Sandra’s classmates. She traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to see the new 9/11 Pentagon Memorial that honors Sandra and 183 other people who died at that site.
