United States of America
U.S. Navy · United States 
Petty Officer First Class Marsha D. Ratchford served in the U.S. Navy for 15 years and 8 months. Marsha served with the Navy Command Center, the Pentagon. Marsha served during the years of Gulf War and the Global War on Terrorism. Marsha was 34 years old.
How They Died
Manner
Homicide
Cause
Multiple traumatic injuries
Place
Virginia
Biography
Information Technician First Class, United States Navy, at the Navy Command Center, where she handled crucial military message traffic.
She was born in Detroit and raised in a large family in Mobile, and joined the Navy about fifteen years before. At a training school in San Diego she caught the eye of a machinist's mate across the gym. He remembers: she had an awesome smile. They married in Alabama in May 1988.
She loved computers and the challenge of the work, but her husband says nothing equalled her devotion as a mother - that she was a mother from her heart. They had three children: a son of eleven, a daughter of eight, and a daughter of eighteen months.
On the morning of the eleventh she telephoned him to tell him about the towers. She said I love you, and have a nice day, and I'll call you later.
She was born in Detroit and raised in a large family in Mobile, and joined the Navy about fifteen years before. At a training school in San Diego she caught the eye of a machinist's mate across the gym. He remembers: she had an awesome smile. They married in Alabama in May 1988.
She loved computers and the challenge of the work, but her husband says nothing equalled her devotion as a mother - that she was a mother from her heart. They had three children: a son of eleven, a daughter of eight, and a daughter of eighteen months.
On the morning of the eleventh she telephoned him to tell him about the towers. She said I love you, and have a nice day, and I'll call you later.
What Happened
Killed at the Pentagon on the morning of 11 September 2001, when American Airlines flight 77 struck the western face of the building at 9:37. A hundred and twenty-five people inside and fifty-nine aboard the aircraft were killed.
Survivors
Her husband Rodney and their three children.
Tributes
1
I did not know you personally, but I know your name now, and I know you were taken.
Keepsakes
Service Record
Conflicts
Memorials
National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
Line 1967
Also Remembered
September 11, 2001 — The Pentagon
In Our Keeping
Permanent identifier
neuraspine_01m2f2d1wg1cq1ze1vcs6yxe88
Record added
September 14, 2026
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Last updated
September 21, 2026
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