WASHINGTON — The Naval Sea Systems Command marks 10 years since the deadly Navy Yard shooting. It was the deadliest mass shooting in D.C. history. In total, 12 people were killed and another three were injured on Sept. 16, 2013.
That's when Aaron Alexis, a military contractor, rampaged through Building 197 — the Naval Sea Systems Command Building. A commemoration honoring those killed takes place Friday outside the building where the shooting happened. It was renamed the Joshua Humphreys Building and renovated since the tragedy.
Following the ceremony, there will be a 5K run and a one-mile walk that starts in front of the National Navy Museum and ends just across from the Humphreys Building at Dahlgren Park.
Watch the ceremony live below:
Speakers at the ceremony include Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the Honorable Fredrick 'Jay' Stefany, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Rear Admiral Thomas J. Anderson, Acting Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; and Ms. Giao Phan, Executive Director, Naval Sea Systems Command.
A decade after the tragedy, we remember those lost not for how they died, but for how they lived:
Michael Arnold, 59, of Lorton, Va., liked putting things together. He was a Navy veteran and avid pilot who was building a light airplane at his home, much of it in his basement. He retired from the Navy as a commander or lieutenant commander and had previously been stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. He worked at the Navy Yard on a team that designed vessels such as the USS Makin Island, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship used by the Marine Corps.
Arnold and his wife, Jolanda, had been married for more than 30 years, Hunter said. They had two grown sons, Eric and Christopher.
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Martin Bodrog, 54, lived on a quiet, tree-shaded cul-de-sac in Annandale, Va. Many people describe him as an all-around friendly guy.
Jeff Prowse, a close friend of Bodrog and family spokesman, said Bodrog was a hardworking Navy veteran and graduate of the Naval Academy who cared deeply about his family, his friends and his country.
"A heart of gold, and one of the most humble, self-effacing guys," said Prowse, a burly ex-Marine who paused several times to fight back tears as he talked.
"This is just an absolute tragedy for so many reasons," Prowse said.
Prowse worked with Bodrog at the Pentagon on amphibious vessel programs. He said Bodrog was transferred from the Pentagon to the Navy Yard in January.
Bodrog had been married for 25 years to Melanie, whom he met while she was serving on active duty as a Navy nurse. The couple had three daughters, Isabel, Sophie and Rita.
Prowse and Bodrog shared a love of the Boston Bruins hockey team and he last spoke to his good friend about a week before the shooting.
"We were actually getting ready to figure out our Bruins schedule for the year," said Prowse, who retired from the military and now lives in southwest Virginia.
Bodrog was active in his church, where he started a Bible study and helped lead preschool and youth programs, Prowse said. In the winter, Bodrog could be seen in shorts and his Boston Bruins jersey, shoveling the driveways of elderly neighbors.
"The one thing that always stuck out to me about Marty... was how absolutely driven he was to make sure that the equipment we were giving our Marines and sailors was absolutely the best he could be," Prowse said. "It was not a job for Marty, it was an absolute calling."
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Arthur Daniels, 51, of Washington, was a handyman working for a furniture contractor who just happened to be moving and installing furniture at the Navy Yard when the shooting began. He was the father of five children and the grandfather of nine.
Priscilla Daniels, 46, told The Washington Post she had kissed her husband that morning and teased that he should stay in bed because it was raining.
"I don't know why they shot him," she said. "He was a good father and hard worker."
Every year, it was Arthur Daniels who cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the family. On weekends, he spent time washing and polishing his white Crown Victoria.
Priscilla Daniels said she and her husband loved going out on the town with their shoes shined and hair done, holding hands. They were high school sweethearts, and all four of their sons were named after Arthur Daniels.
His death comes four years after the death of their 14-year-old son Arthur A. Daniels, who was shot and killed on a Washington street.
"My husband was the man I loved through all the tragedy," Priscilla Daniels said. "I can't believe this is happening again."
Arthur Daniels was the family's breadwinner. Washington Mayor Vincent Gray called Priscilla Daniels on Tuesday to offer condolences and asked if there was any life insurance, but the answer was no. The mayor said he would send a staff member to the house to discuss the family's finances.
Daniels was also a heck of a cook come Thanksgiving. His niece says he'll always be remembered as a compassionate man.
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Sylvia Frasier, 53, of Waldorf, Md., had worked at Naval Sea Systems Command as an information assurance manager since 2000, according to a LinkedIn profile in her name. She live with her sister.
Frasier studied at Strayer University, earning a bachelor of science in computer information systems in 2000 and a master's in information systems in 2002. Her duties at NAVSEA included providing policy and guidance on network security, and assuring that all computer systems operated by the headquarters met Department of Navy and Department of Defense requirements.
She also led efforts "to establish and implement procedures to investigate security violations or incidents," according to the profile.
Frasier was known to light up a room. Colleagues say family and faith were her life. She also worked at the Walmart in Waldorf on nights and weekends, so loved by her customers they'd visit her when they knew she'd be working.
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Kathleen Gaarde, 63, of Woodbridge, Va., took care of you. She cared for her 94-year-old mom until she passed, was a fantastic wife to her husband Douglass of 38 years, a great mom to her son and daughter, and even volunteered to help animals.
Gaarde was a financial analyst who supported the organization responsible for the shipyards. She was planning her retirement.
Her husband Douglass declined to speak, but wrote that he was unable to sleep.
"Today my life partner of 42 years (38 of them married) was taken from me, my grown son and daughter, and friends," he wrote. "We were just starting to plan our retirement activities and now none of that matters. It hasn't fully sunk in yet but I know I already dearly miss her."
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Logistics analyst John Roger Johnson, 73, was perhaps most notorious for his bear hugs, his daughter said.
"Rib-crunchers," Megan Johnson said with a laugh as she remembered her father. "You didn't have to pay for a chiropractor."
The Derwood, Md., man - the oldest of the victims in the shootings - graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. He studied mathematics, but he went into the field of reliability engineering, said Megan Johnson, third-youngest of his four daughters.
Most recently, Johnson worked with TWD & Associates, Inc., where co-workers knew him as "J.J."
Johnson was an avid saltwater fisherman but, his daughter said, "could not cook to save his life." He had a place across the road from the ocean at Nags Head on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for more than 20 years.
Megan Johnson said her father was a "die-hard" Washington Redskins football fan. And while the former youth ice hockey player used to feel the same way about the Baltimore Orioles, she said, "I can tell you, he was switching to the Nats," referring to the Washington Nationals baseball franchise.
Colleagues have said Johnson would always greet them with a hearty, "Good morning, Buddy. How you doing?" His daughter said that made her smile.
"I think the key thing there was his jolly, happy-go-lucky self," she said. "An honestly great guy."
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Frank Kohler, 50, was a past president of the Rotary Club in Lexington Park, Md. As such, he proudly held the title of "King Oyster" at the annual festival celebrating the region's signature bivalve the third weekend of each October.
"He walks around with a crown and robe and gives out candy," said Bob Allen, Kohler's former boss at Lockheed Martin in southern Maryland. "In fact, he was in charge of the beer stand. I used to have that job and when I left, I handed it off to him."
The married father of two college-age daughters Meaghan and Alexandra had driven up to the Washington Navy Yard for a meeting when the shootings occurred, friends told Allen. Allen said Kohler had taken over for him as site manager for the defense contractor.
Kohler was working for Information Concepts in Management, LLC, a subcontractor of TWD & Associates, Inc. He had been on the NAVSEA project just under two years, according to a TWD statement.
Kohler lived on the water with his best friend, soulmate and wife, Michelle, an employee at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Allen said his friend loved to boat and fish, and went on frequent hunting trips to Canada.
"A great family man, a Christian, and a great friend," he said. "It just doesn't seem possible. I mean, you hear about these things all the time... But when you know somebody, it just makes it all the worse... It's a huge loss for southern Maryland."
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Information technology specialist Mary Knight, 51, of Reston, Va., got to see her 25-year-old daughter Nicole walk down the aisle and had just gotten a promotion at her job.
Knight was born in Germany, where 1st Sgt. Frank DeLorenzo, a Green Beret instructor who did a tour in Vietnam, was stationed at the time. When she was about 10, the family was transferred to Fort Bragg, N.C.
Liliana DeLorenzo, a native of Trieste, Italy, said her daughter attended local schools and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"She was a No. 1 student," the proud mother said. "She always liked to go to school."
Knight, the oldest of three children, had recently been promoted at work to GS 15 - the top civil service pay grade, her mother said.
The mother of two just started teaching information technology at Northern Virginia Community College. Knight's mom said everything was going Mary's way and she was very happy.
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Marine engineer and naval architect Vishnu "Kisan" Pandit, 61, was a hard-working Indian immigrant, known for his devotion to family, community and his 30-year civilian Navy career.
"He was very dedicated to improving the performance of naval ships and systems," longtime friend M. Nuns Jain said outside the North Potomac, Md., home where Pandit's family privately mourned. "The only saving grace in this horrible incident is that he died doing what he loved the most in the service of his nation."
Jain said Pandit, a Mumbai native, earned a bachelor's degree in marine engineering in India in 1973 before coming to America and earning a degree in naval architecture from the University of Michigan.
Married to his wife Anjali since 1978, Pandit had two sons and a granddaughter, Jain said.
"He was a real family man and he loved dogs," including the family's golden retriever, Bailey, Jain said.
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Kenneth Proctor, 46, worked as a civilian utilities foreman at the Navy Yard, his ex-wife, Evelyn Proctor, said. He spent 22 years working for the federal government, Evelyn Proctor said.
The Waldorf, Md., woman spoke to Kenneth early Monday morning before he left for work at the Navy Yard. It was his regular call. The high school sweethearts talked every day, even after they divorced this year after 19 years of marriage, and they shared custody of their two teenage sons.
Kenneth Proctor was born and raised in Charles County, Md., where he lived until his death.
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Gerald L. Read's did everything with his wife Kathy. She loved caring for rescue dogs, and he helped her.
Read had a daughter Jessica and three granddaughters. The 58-year-old information assurance specialist called Alexandria home, and that's where he and Cathy liked to feed squirrels and birds in their front yard, and admire their garden.
"We're still trying to gather our thoughts," said his son-in-law, Michael Giffin.
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Richard Michael Ridgell, 52, was a passionate protector, both in his security work and in the way he treated his daughters during game-day trips to M&T Field to root for his beloved Baltimore Ravens.
"He was all about protecting us," said daughter Megan outside her mother's Westminster home. She remembered her father guardedly eyeing other spectators as they climbed to their upper-tier seats, making sure she was safe in the roaring crowd.
Ridgell, a former Maryland State Police trooper, was working for a private security contractor at the Washington Navy Yard. He died maintaining his post to make sure the shooter didn't leave the building. His family says that shows you the strength of Ridgell's character.
His children and estranged wife, Tracey, say they want him remembered as a loving, funny and patriotic man who found satisfaction as a security contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan; as a drummer in the all-volunteer Baltimore Colts Marching Band before the Ravens era; and as a successful softball coach to all three daughters, Heather, 33, Megan, 19, and Maddi, 17.
"He was so much more than a shooting victim. He was an amazing person," Megan said.
Ridgell, a native of Brooklyn Park, near Baltimore, was a state trooper from 1983 to 2000, when he resigned at the rank of corporal, spokesman Sgt. Marc Black said.