By LEONARD GRAY

NORCO – For one Norco resident, the events of Sept. 11 held a gripping fascination. Vivian Jacob followed the news, hoping to find out the fate of her godson, Robert J. “Bob” Hymel, 55, a Pentagon employee.

Hymel’s remains, identified through dental records, were recovered Tuesday after a week of being listed as missing since the terrorist attack on the building. His office was in the section most heavily damaged.

“He was a great boy,” Jacob remembered. “The kids were good kids, and he did well in school.”

At Monday’s St. Charles Parish Council meeting, District Six Councilman Lance Marino praised Hymel’s patriotism and service to his country.

Hymel was born in Hahnville, the second son of Elsie Hymel of Lafayette and the late Sidney Hymel. His older brother, Clyde, lives in Texas; his twin sister, Mary Toce, lives in Lafayette. Vivian Jacob and her family, also from Hahnville raised their children together.

“Once my kids asked me if we were all related,” she said with a smile.

Hymel’s family moved to Wesco subdivision in Norco when his father worked at Shell Chemical and he was in first grade.

Bob Hymel attended school at St. Charles Borromeo, graduated, earned his college degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1969 and entered the U.S. Air Force.

Soon, he found himself in Vietnam, co-pilot of a B-52 bomber.

His plane was shot down over Hanoi, crashing in Thailand, and Hymel was the sole survivor.

“They didn’t know he was going to live then,” Jacob recalled of his extensive injuries.

Hymel’s career later took him to a Pentagon position as a job management analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

“We are all proud of him,” Jacob said.

He was a resident of Woodbridge, Va., with his wife, Patricia.

Jacob has been best friends with Elsie Hymel “since we were little things,” but she remains concerned about her friend. “She says, yes, she can sleep, but she’s stuck to the television set.”

Hymel’s mother last saw her son on her 80th birthday, more than a year ago, at a family gathering. Elsie Hymel observed, “God has a different story for him.”

A military funeral is being contemplated in mid-October at Arlington National Cemetery, Jacob said Wednesday.

“It’s horrible, but thank goodness they heard something,” Jacob concluded.