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MATTHEW MICHAEL FLOCCO, 21, of Newark, Del., told his father he wanted to get out of the Navy, get his college degree, then return as an officer. "He wanted to have rank and he wanted to get there quick, and I tell you, he had the cut for it," Michael Flocco said. The younger Flocco, who worked in the Navy's weather office, was proud of his posting to the Pentagon, his family said. "The Pentagon, you think that's the safest place in the world," said his aunt Michelle Iaello. "We were happy when he was stationed there. You didn't have to worry about him being on a ship, being bombed or torpedoed or something."

Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press