A Pentagon Navy Officer Who Was a 'Good Kid'
September 19, 2001
Lt. j.g. Darin Howard Pontell, 26, of Columbia, Md., a 1999 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, had been an intelligence officer at the Pentagon almost the entire time following his graduation, said his grandfather, Louis Pontell of Columbia.
"He was a good kid. He liked athletics," his grandfather said. He married his wife, Devora, only seven months ago and celebrated his birthday just two weeks ago," the grandfather added.
Before Darin Pontell went to the academy, he worked with his father, Gary, an architect.
"His oldest brother, Steven, was a Navy pilot who died in a crash on a carrier deck in 1989," Louis Pontell said.
Darin Howard Pontell
--Sid Cassese (Newsday)
Sept. 14, 2001
Life was good for Darin Howard Pontell of Columbia: He married in March, loved his job at the Pentagon and just two weeks ago celebrated his 26th birthday with his wife, Devora Volk, parents, in-laws and grandfather.
Now Pontell, a Navy lieutenant junior grade, is among the 126 people who are unaccounted for at the Pentagon, where a hijacked American Airlines Boeing 757 crashed Tuesday.
But Louis Pontell, 88, isn't ready to accept that his grandson is dead. "They said in the paper it could be 10 to 12 days just to clean everything up," he said last night. "If he was hurt, I don't care. I'll be very happy if he's only hurt."
But Louis Pontell has been watching television since his son, Gary, called with the grim news. He knows things don't look too good.
But he prefers to talk about his grandson -- especially the way he was two weeks ago when he last saw him.
"The party was strictly for family," Louis Pontell said. "They served cake and ice cream. This was at their home, just after dinner. He was very happy, very happy. After all, they're a young married couple."
Darin Pontell, a 1998 Naval Academy graduate, loves computers and works in intelligence at the Pentagon, his grandfather said.
"He was always busy," Louis Pontell said. "I think he did bowl and participate in other activities, but we never talked about it. He's a youngster, I'm an old man. But he was very active and very, very good with computers."
In 1989, the elder Pontell lost another grandson, Steven Pontell, in an airplane crash on the USS Lexington off Pensacola, Fla.
"It's a shameful thing it happened [Tuesday], but I'm praying and hoping that he's alive."
------- Laurie Willis (The Baltimore Sun)
Oct. 1, 2001
Darin Pontell decided in 1989, at age 14, that he would enlist in the Navy. His older brother, Steven, a Navy pilot, was killed that year in a crash on the USS Lexington off Pensacola, Fla.
"When that happened, Darin mentioned that he'd like to pick up where his brother Steven left off, to complete the circle," his father, Gary Pontell, said.
Darin Pontell, a native of Arlington Heights who moved with his family to Baltimore in 1985, graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy. His job in Navy intelligence took him to some of the most dangerous regions of the world.
Lt. j.g. Pontell married Devora Volk, a lawyer, in March. He began working at the Pentagon in April and celebrated his 26th birthday last month. He lived in Gaithersburg, Md.
"When he returned to the Pentagon, we felt he was so safe," his father said. "Who would have thought of the Pentagon as a target?"
Gary Pontell is left with one son, Michael, 33.
"Darin and his brother Mike were my best friends," Gary Pontell said. "And being that both of them were such family people, we always spent a lot of time together. That's what I'm going to miss. The Sunday afternoons and Sunday evenings. I'm going to miss the phone calls."
Darin Pontell will be buried next to his brother in the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Cemetery.
------Ted Gregory (The Chicago Tribune)-------
