The nine victims of yesterday's rush-hour subway train crash here in Washington, D.C. included the major general who once commanded the District of Columbia National Guard.

This from the Washington Post:

Among those killed in yesterday's Red Line train crash was a retired general who headed the D.C. National Guard and gave the order to scramble jets over the city during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr. and his wife, Ann Wherley, both 62, were among nine killed when one Metro train slammed into the back of another near the Fort Totten Station yesterday afternoon, hitting with such force that its first car was cracked open and lifted on top of the other train.

Others killed in the crash included the train's driver, an elementary school staffer and a woman about to open her own beauty-salon business — their stories a testament to the Metro's role as a rare place where all the strands of Washington life intersect.