MOREHEAD — Edward Earhart was outraged by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

        The Navy weather specialist began monitoring the destruction in New York City from his office in the Pentagon immediately after an airliner crashed into the first tower. When a second airliner struck the other tower, he concluded a Middle Eastern terrorist group must be responsible.

        “It's time to go over there and take care of things,” the 26-year-old Morehead sailor reportedly told his lieutenant.

        Those were among the last words Mr. Earhart spoke before terrorists guided a third airliner into the Pentagon, said his aunt, Claudette Thomas of Morehead. Mr. Earhart died instantly, but his final words echo across Kentucky as soldiers from Fort Campbell and numerous National Guard units take their places in America's war on terrorism.

        “What the terrorists did was unthinkable,” Ms. Thomas said. “I just want to make sure that we don't forget.”

        In Morehead, a towering red, white and blue “God Bless America” signs greets visitors heading downtown. Flags hang from window sills in residential areas. And the talk in cafes often is about the latest developments in the war on terrorism, about soldiers from Fort Campbell being killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, about additional Kentucky National Guard troops being called up, about the likelihood of Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders being captured alive.

        “I'm just hoping they bring these people to justice,” said John Carl Thomas, Mr. Earhart's grandfather. “I'd rather they catch him and kill him on the spot. It would be easier that way.”

        Mr. Thomas' home is a virtual shrine to his grandson. Photographs in his living room chronicle the young man's life, from a child wearing a boyish grin to sailor wearing the white uniform.

        “We sure do miss him,” said Mr. Thomas, a World War II Navy veteran. “He had a bright future ahead of him.”

        Although the family hasn't seen an autopsy report, the local funeral director who examined the body offered information that the family found comforting — that Mr. Earhart apparently died instantly, that he didn't burn to death, and that he didn't die trapped beneath rubble.

        “It's odd, but it's those things you take comfort in,” said Claudette Thomas. “You want to know that the person you love wasn't pleading for help and not getting it.”

        Tears come into the eyes of Charlotte Earhart, the sailor's mother. She sat silently as her mother, father and sister talked about the personal toll of the attacks. She spoke not a word — the tears the only clue to her own pain.

        “It's not easy, but you have to keep going,” said Mr. Earhart's grandmother, Louella Thomas.

        U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Bruce Murphy, of Pine Knott, said geography did not shield Kentucky from the attacks that killed 3,308 people nor from the ensuring war on terrorism.

        “I think this whole matter is still first and foremost on everybody's mind,” said Lt. Col. Murphy, who, in civilian life, serves as deputy judge-executive in McCreary County. “There may not be as much hoopla, as much attention on a daily basis as there was, but flags are still flying as high as they ever have and more are going up every day.”

        Since Mr. Earhart's death, three soldiers from Fort Campbell in western Kentucky have been killed in action in Afghanistan, about 1,400 Kentucky National Guard troops have been called to active duty, and residents across the state have faced anthrax scares.

        Middlesboro, like other towns in Kentucky, has pulled together police, firefighters, physicians and community leaders to assess its preparedness for an attack.

        “Your first thought would be that a small town would never be a target, but you just never know,” said James Pursifull, Middlesboro's director of public safe ty. “You try to go on just as normal as you can, but have to know what resources you have, what resources you need, and what we need to do to prepare ourselves.”

        But by and large, Kentuckians feel safe, said University of Louisville social psychologist Mike Cunningham.

        “It's a ripple effect, and we're a long way from where the boulder was thrown into the pond,” he said. “The waves are hitting us relatively mildly.”

        For people who knew someone in New York or Washington, or have relatives who have been directly touched like Edward Earhart's family, the meaning of Sept. 11 is different.

        “It all comes down to immediacy — how removed are you, how safe are you or your loved ones,” Mr. Cunningham said.

        Since the first days after the attacks, Kentucky's connections have increased.

        National Guard troops have been deployed from armories in Barbourville, Harlan, Louisville and Middlesboro, primarily to provide base security at military installations in the United States. In January, troops from London, Somerset, Madisonville, Marion and Benton will be sent to Europe to help fight the war on terrorism. The Kentucky Department of Military Affairs said the troops most likely will provide security at European military installations.

        Before the attacks, Morehead was nearing completion on a war memorial honoring those killed in action. Now, along with the names of those who fell in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam is that of Edward Earhart, under the heading Attack on America.

        The attacks, Claudette Thomas said, have reminded not just Kentuckians but all Americans of the importance of the military.

        “I'm glad for that,” she said. “Soldiers are being paid the respect they deserve.”

        As for Mr. Earhart's family, Claudette Thomas said they're holding together.

        “Even though we miss him terribly, we know he's in a better place,” she said. “It would be too easy just to fall apart, but we're not going to do that.”

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