Amistake in identifying the body of a Taylor Uni-

versity-Upland student left two families with un-told grief and has spurred calls for legislation inhow coroners are trained. One day after Christ-mas, the number of Americans killed in the Iraq

war surpassed the total killedin the Sept. 11 terrorist at-tacks. The mix-up near Marionranks as your top local/statestory of the year (139 of 273votes), and the mounting U.S.death toll in Iraq and Afghan-istan is the top national/inter-national story (50 of 202 votes).

Crash kills 5 from Taylor University UplandOn April 26, four students and a Taylor em-

ployee returning to campus from Fort Waynewere killed in an accident on Interstate 69.Five weeks later, authorities announced theyhad mixed up the identities of 19-year-oldWhitney Cerak of Gaylord, Mich., who wasseverely injured but survived, and 22-year-old Laura VanRyn of Caledonia, Mich., whowas killed.

“Our hearts are aching as we have learnedthat the young woman we have been takingcare of over the past five weeks has not beenour dear Laura, but instead a fellow Taylor

(University) student of hers, Whitney Ce-rak,” the VanRyn family wrote on its blog atthe time.

Grant County coroner Ron Mowery, whohas resigned, said the accident scene hadbeen strewn with purses, and that studentshad identified the survivor as VanRyn. No sci-entific testing was conducted to verify theidentities.

Authorities say Robert F. Spencer fellasleep at the wheel of his semitrailer andslammed into a Taylor University van on

READERS CHOOSE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS

YOUR TOP STORIES OF YEARReaders’ choicesOther stories receiving votes, in order ofhighest to lowest:

Local/state◆ Daylight-saving time takes effect◆ April Tinsley’s homicide case reopened◆ Downtown baseball stadium proposed◆ Two electrocuted at crash site◆ Waterfield closes; hundreds of jobs lost◆ 122nd comes home from Iraq◆ Southeastrevitalization getsboost fromWal-Mart◆ County passespublic-smokingban (tie)◆ Boy dies fromLaCrosseencephalitis (tie)◆ Ben Blauveltfound in Texas◆ Southwestannexation takeseffect◆ Close race, new sheriff top election results (tie)◆ Consolidated government considered (tie)◆ Hepatitis A infects Pizza Hut employee

National/international◆ Gunman attacksAmish school◆ Gas, oil pricesreach record highs◆ Saddam Husseinfound guilty,sentenced tohanging◆ Disaster strikesat Sago Mine◆ Auto industrysuffers GM and Fordlayoffs◆ Donald Rumsfeld steps down (tie for sixth)◆ Foley involved in sex scandal (tie for sixth)◆ Darfur sees deaths mount (tie for eighth)◆ Liquids banned from airplanes (tie for eighth)◆ Winter Olympics held in Italy◆ Spinach contaminated

By The Associated Press

Five people were killed when a semitrailer collided with a Taylor University Upland van on April 26. In atragic mix-up, one family was incorrectly told their daughter had died in the crash.

By The Associated Press

Soldiers in Baghdad searched house to house forweapons and bomb-making materials on Dec. 25.

➤Continues as TOP NEWS, Page 5A

The National Guard 122nd FighterWing returned to Fort Wayne on Feb.25 after serving 40 days in Iraq.

Tinsley

Amish walk to a prayer service for shoot-ing victims in Lancaster County, Pa.

Gas prices inFort Wayneand acrossthe countrysurpassed $3a gallon lastsummer.

VanRyn

Cerak

Ad Index 2A

Classified 3L

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Dear Abby 4F

Editorials 8A

Features 1F

Headlines 2A

Horoscope 4F

Local 1L

Lotteries 2A

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Television 2F

JUST SAY‘SNOW’

Why hibernate? Checkout our list of the region’sbest places to ski andsnowboard. FEATURES, 1F

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www.news-sentinel.com D E C E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 6 Fort Wayne, Indiana

WEEKEND EDITION

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173rd yearNumber 312

IndexFederal closings Coming Monday

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SUNDAYRain likelyHIGH 51 | LOW 38

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It was a Barry good yearDave Barry offers a humorous take on the events(both real and imaginary) of 2006. In Features

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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Husseinstruggled briefly after American militaryguards handed him over to Iraqi execu-tioners. But as his final moments ap-proached, he grew calm.

He clutched a Quran as he was led tothe gallows, and in one final moment of de-fiance, refused to have a hood pulled overhis head before facing the same fate he

was accused of inflicting on countlessthousands during a quarter-century ofruthless power.

A man whose testimony helped lead toSaddam’s conviction and execution beforesunrise said he was shown the body be-cause “everybody wanted to make surethat he was really executed.”

“Now, he is in the garbage of history,”

said Jawad Abdul-Aziz, who lost his fa-ther, three brothers and 22 cousins in thereprisal killings that followed a botched1982 assassination attempt against Sad-dam in the Shiite town of Dujail.

Iraqi television showed what it said wasSaddam’s body, his head uncovered andthe neck twisted at a sharp angle.

In Baghdad’s Shiite enclave of SadrCity, hundreds of people danced in thestreets, while others fired guns in the air

LONG, BRUTAL REIGN IS HISTORY

SADDAM GOES TO GALLOWS

By The Associated Press This video image released by Iraqi state television shows Saddam Hussein being led to thegallows by guards wearing ski masks moments before his execution Saturday.

BY CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

AND QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

of The Associated Press

“NOW, HE IS IN THE GARBAGE OF HISTORY.” — JAWAD ABDUL-AZIZ, WHO LOST HIS FATHER, THREE BROTHERS AND 22 COUSINS IN THE REPRISAL KILLINGS THAT FOLLOWED A

BOTCHED 1982 ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST SADDAM

➤Continues as SADDAM, Page 4A

Inside◆ A look at the rise and fall of SaddamHussein. Page 5A.

Some Iraqis celebrated, while others protested the execution

LIKE MOST SURVIVING WorldWar II combat veterans, PhillipThompson has a war story to tell.His began the day the shooting stopped in 1945, but he didn’t evenknow it for another 61years – a real-ization that may heal some linger-ing psychological wounds on bothsides of the Pacific.

To Thompson, then a 19-year-oldNavy mechanic from Fort Wayne,what happened on Aug. 14, 1945,was just another episode in thebloody battle for Okinawa. But toSachi Yoshida of Katushikaku, Ja-pan – who wouldn’t be born for an-other 34 years – the crash of the“last kamikaze” began a quest tounderstand a long-dead ancestor.

That quest brought the story’stwo lead characters together onFeb. 22, when Thompson received aletter from a WWII enthusiast inAllentown, Pa., informing him of

Yoshida’s interest in the death of her grandfather’sbrother, Chief Petty Officer Goto (she never mentionedhis first name). Subsequent letters from Yoshida her-self sought details of a story Thompson had told manytimes since 1945 without understanding its importanceto people he had never met living thousands of milesaway.

“Our landing craft was delivering mail to picket de-stroyers, but we couldn’t get back to the harbor on Oki-nawa before dark, so we stopped off at Iheya Shima (an

Mail service will be suspended Tuesday, the U.S.Postal Service has announced. President Bush hasordered federal agencies to close Tuesday out of re-spect for former President Gerald R. Ford, who diedthis week. Normal mail service will resume Wednes-day.

The U.S. District Court office on Harrison Streetonly will accept e-filings and emergency filingsTuesday. Offices related to national security, such asthe Department of State and Department of Home-land Security, will remain open. Most major U.S.stock exchanges will be closed, as well.

– From staff, wire reports

Holidaycustomerservice

The News-Senti-nel’s customer

service will close at6 p.m. Monday.Subscribers who

have not received apaper by 4:30 p.m.

should call 461-8519 for a copy.

IN MY OPINION

By Brian Tombaugh ofThe News-Sentinel

Phillip Thompson still displays photos from World War II ona wall in his Fort Wayne home.

Buy photo reprints atwww.news-sentinel.com

WWII vet’sJapaneseconnectionRelative of kamikaze pilot tracked himdown, thanks to donated souvenir.

A column byKEVINLEININGER

Thompson: HadJapanese pilot’suniform fragment

➤Continues as LEININGER, Page 3A