Columbine remembered

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Hundreds of survivors, friends and families gathered at sunset yesterday to pay tribute to the 13 persons slain at Columbine High School five years ago in the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

Participants bowed their heads as four F-16 fighter jets soared over the grassy amphitheater in Clement Park, a few hundred yards and just out of sight from the suburban school.

They rose in unison to cheer Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was paralyzed from the waist down in the attack and delivered her message from a wheelchair.

“We all will never forget what happened that day, but we can move forward and prove that we are strong,” she said.

Miss Hochhalter told an estimated 1,200 people that her mother committed suicide six months after the massacre, but added that she and other survivors have gone on to college and careers.

Five years earlier, on April 20, 1999, Columbine students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.

“Certain days are harder than others. This is one of them,” said Joe Kechter, whose son, Matt, was among those killed. “We were told by counselors that the fifth would be harder. I don’t know the reason, but it is true.”

Before the service began, he fondly recalled the time he spent with his son: “I don’t have any regrets that way. I wish there were other things we could have done today.”

The names of the dead were read aloud before the crowd, and a bell was rung each time.

“The most lasting tribute we could make to the treasured 13 we remember here tonight is to make the world a better place than when they left it,” Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis said.

The school itself sat empty yesterday, its 1,700 students given the day off. The building has been overhauled since the slayings, with a new library replacing the room where 10 of the students were killed.

The mother of slain valedictorian Lauren Townsend read to the crowd from a collection of memories honoring the “precious 13” — how one boy dreamed of being a Navy pilot and another had a favorite truck.

“It’s so difficult to believe that it is five years since we last held our loved ones,” Dawn Anna said. “Now, let our hearts see what our eyes cannot.”

For hours before the memorial, people came and went, and somber groups left flowers near the school.

Debbie Oetter, 48, wept as she descended a small hill nearby, clutching a Bible to her chest.

“I don’t know why this year hit me so hard,” said Mrs. Oetter, whose daughter was dating John Tomlin when he was slain. She planned to visit a Habitat for Humanity house built in Mr. Tomlin’s name and a store that donated clothes to his family.

“This is my way of getting through today,” she said. “It’s been good to look at all the good things that have come out of the evil that day.”