Michelle Heidenberger, 57, of Chevy Chase, Md., was a flight attendant for American Airlines for 25 years. "Michele was a pro," reads a statement issued by family and friends. "She died trying to protect her passengers and crew." She is survived by her husband, Tom, a pilot for U.S. Airways, their 11-year-old son and college-age daughter.

A 30-year flight attendant with American Airlines whose father was general manager of American's operations at Bradley International Airport is among the roll of those murdered in Tuesday's kamikaze attack on the Pentagon.

Michele Heidenberger, who grew up in Windsor, "was a wonderful, caring, giving person who, I believe, even in this disaster, was probably taking care of someone else," her sister Diane Johnson said Wednesday from the Suffield house of their mother, Mary McDonald.

Heidenberger, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., was one of 64 people aboard American Flight 77 bound from Dulles Airport for Los Angeles.

Terrorists hijacked the Boeing 757 during the first quarter of its journey westward, turned it around toward the capital, and plowed it into the western side of the nation's military headquarters.

She leaves behind her husband, Thomas, a captain with USAirways, and two children, Alison, who turned 20 on Monday, and a son, Thomas, 14.

Johnson, who with her other sisters, Karen Denino and Suzanne Bennett of Windsor, were at their mother's house, said she last saw Heidenberger in July at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

Heidenberger was born in Melrose, Mass. Her family moved to Windsor in 1960, Johnson said.

Her father, the late Richard McDonald, was general manager of American's operations at Bradley in Windsor Locks for 36 years.

Heidenberger graduated from Windsor High School in 1967. She had lived in Maryland since 1975.

Neighbors and relatives in metropolitan Washington, D.C., remembered Heidenberger for many reasons: as a good friend, a gardener, owner of a new golden retriever puppy, and as someone who delivered groceries to older people.

"She took care of everyone else besides herself," Johnson said. "She did lots of volunteer work."

"For every one of us, at some point of our lives when we needed help, she was always the one there for us," her sister-in-law, Betsy Heidenberger, told The Washington Times.

"I'm just so heartbroken," said Ruby Ramer, one of Heidenberger's neighbors, to The Washington Post. "I just can't believe she won't be one of our neighbors."

"She was a lovely lady," neighbor Peter Dove told the Post when he answered the telephone Tuesday at the Heidenbergers' house. "We were such over-the-fence neighbors that we cut a gate in the fence."

The Post also reported that Heidenberger was trained to deal with a hijacking - that she knew not to let an intruder into an aircraft's cockpit, to tell the person that she lacked a key to the locked door, and that she would have to call the pilot.

Family members also said Heidenberger had been switched recently to Flight 77's Dulles-to-Los Angeles route, and that she was trying to switch back to her usual Dulles-to-Miami run.

"At first we heard it was a commuter airline" that carved a six-story hole in the Pentagon, Johnson said, "but then we heard it wasn't, and I knew she had been flying that route."

Michele M. Heidenberger Michele M. Heidenberger had been a flight attendant for 27 years when she boarded American Airlines Flight 77 for an early flight bound for Los Angeles. The Dulles-L.A. route was new to her, and she was trying to switch back to the Dulles-Miami route. She was 52 and married to Thomas P. Heidenberger, a pilot for US Airways. They lived in Chevy Chase and have two children, a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter who attends Loyola College in Baltimore. "She was very vibrant, a friend to everyone, very unselfish about everything" said neighbor Peter Dove. Mrs. Heidenberger was very involved in community service, such as delivering groceries to the elderly, and was also a tennis player. "For every one of us, at some point of our lives when we needed help, she was always the one there for us," said her sister-in-law, Betsy Heidenberger. Michele Heidenberger was trained in how to deal with a hijacking five years ago, her sister-in-law said. "Knowing Michele, she was probably the one who would have approached them first and said, 'You can't go into the cockpit.' We have no doubt that she probably confronted these guys," Betsy Heidenberger said. The family released a short statement yesterday, saying that Mrs. Heidenberger "died trying to protect her passengers and crew." "We know her to have been an unselfish, caring mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend. She died a hero, putting her passengers and crew first. We know if she were with us today, she would join with family and friends in extending deepest condolences and sympathy to all who have suffered a loss in this tragic event. We know everyone will miss her too much for words."