Eric Allen Cranford 
  Attack Location: Pentagon 
  Age: 32 
  Home: Drexel, North Carolina

Commander Eric Allen Cranford, 32, received his commission from the Reserve Officers Training Corps at North Carolina State University in 1992 and went straight to naval aviation school after graduation.

He trained as a helicopter aviator in Texas and Florida, then joined a helicopter anti-submarine squadron in March 1995. His first sea assignment was on the cruiser Gettysburg in April 1996, followed by tours on the McInerney and Carr, both guided missile frigates. He joined the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in April 1999.

The Navy lists his home as Drexel, North Carolina, although he lived in Falls Church, Virginia, before his death.

Commander Eric A. Cranford (1992), 32, a native of Drexel, North Carolina, was killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Eric  graduated from North Carolina State with dual degrees in economics and
political science. He was a cadet in Navy ROTC and joined the U.S. Navy as a helicopter pilot after graduation. He was working at the Pentagon at the time of the attack.

Eric was a member of the NC State Alumni Association, the Capital Area NC
State Alumni Club, and the Wolfpack Club. His wife, Emily Cozort Cranford
(1991), also is an NC State alumnus. Our thoughts and prayers continue go out to Emily and to the Cranford and Cozort families.

To honor Eric's memory, Emily established a scholarship fund in his name. The
Capital Area Alumni Club and the Alumni Association are helping to make Emily's wishes a reality. The NC State family has already given over $21,000, which means the scholarship will be endowed in perpetuity. In fact, we had enough money raised in the scholarship's income account, so the first scholarship will be awarded for the Fall 2002 semester -- an appropriate tribute before the one-year anniversary of the attack.

You can still donate to the scholarship! To donate, please make your check payable to the NC State Alumni Association with the notation, "Eric Cranford
Scholarship" on the check's memo line and send it to:

Joan DeBruin
Director of Gift Planning
NC State University
Campus Box 7501
Raleigh, NC 27695-7501