Where was I on 9/11/2001?
Unfortunately, I cannot begin
to tell you how or when I heard the news. What I can tell
you is I felt American Airlines Flight 77’s impact on the
Pentagon. You see, I was on duty as a first lieutenant in
the United States Air Force stationed at the Pentagon. To
this day, I remember very specific things, yet I’m vague on
other details of the day and days that followed.
For me, September 11, 2001,
started as any other beautiful clear fall day in the
Northern Virginia area. I elected to ride my motorcycle to
work to enjoy the reduced commute time from my Crystal City
apartment (by avoiding the Metro) as well as enjoy the
weather. After eating breakfast in the Pentagon’s cafeteria,
I engaged in my typical Tuesday morning tasks as the
Strategic Systems Branch chief (a part of the Air Force
Pentagon Communications Agency [AFPCA]). A few minutes
before 9 a.m., the master sergeant who worked for me
summoned me to see the TV coverage (as I was also a
part-time flight instructor at a flight school in the area).
I was in charge of an around-the-clock shop, so we had a TV
on the floor (so access to a TV was easy). We were watching
the TV coverage as United Flight 175 crashed into the World
Trade Center at 9:03 a.m. I remember thinking, like so many,
that it was a strange replay. That was right up until I
realized in the replay that the other tower had smoke from
American Airlines Flight 11. I remember watching CNN
intently with my troops for the next 35 minutes.
At 9:37 a.m., while watching
CNN’s coverage, our elevated floor (for allowing computer
wires and air conditioning to run underneath) shook four
distinct times immediately followed by fire alarms sounding.
In retrospect, the floor shook each time Flight 77
penetrated a “ring” at the Pentagon. At that exact moment,
without understanding the gravity of the situation, my
troops and I immediately jumped up and began evacuating. We
didn’t have a grasp of the situation going on outside as our
office was in a windowless middle of the Pentagon space on
the third floor. Once joined the mass exodus in the halls,
the urgency of the situation began to sink in along with an
intense adrenaline surge (now understanding that something
major was occurring).
Due to the fact that the
office I worked in supported the secretary of defense, our
closest exit was on the east side of the Pentagon, toward
the river. As we exited we could see the smoke cloud
beginning to ascend from the west side of the Pentagon. Very
shortly after that, as we were trying to make our way to our
designated meeting location, several military helicopters
began landing on the lawn in front of us, impeding our
progress. We eventually made our rendezvous spot on the
south side; I recall I was impressed that we met up with our
chain of command as fast as we did as many groups were
assembling in the large parking lot. At that point, I
shockingly learned that the mission must go on and we needed
to keep our shop running. I had the duty to pick one person
who worked for me to accompany me back into the burning
building. The technical sergeant and I began making our way
back to the east entrance that would yield the shortest
distance to our office (the same entrance we exited from).
During the trek back to the
east entrance, I began trying to call my family and friends
for the first time. However, this was to no avail as all the
cellular telephone lines were down. I finally got connected
to my mom as we were back on the east side. Unfortunately, I
couldn’t hear much of anything due to the helicopter noise
as more were arriving and some departing. As we stepped to
the entrance, we were met by two large gentlemen in black
suits with some of the largest shotguns I think I’ve seen
(or so they seemed at the time). I recall being very
surprised that nonmilitary personnel (who I can only assume
were secret service) had already arrived and were guarding
the entrances. And even though we were in military uniform,
I still felt obligated to approach these gentlemen with my
hands out and visible to “request” to gain entry.
Once we were granted entry,
we began making our way toward our office. For the first
time, I felt uneasy as by this time the hallway had
completely filled with a thick grey smoke. Additionally, I
was accustomed to seeing a few people in any hallway in the
Pentagon, even if it were Christmas Eve. But at this point,
the technical sergeant and I were the only two people
around. Additionally, two glass fire doors I had never seen
closed were now closed. Once we gained entrance to our
secure facility, there wasn’t any smoke and things began to
calm down for us. We used the landline telephone to attempt
to call our friends and family.
After creating a duty
roster, I began figuring out how to feed my troops as the
Pentagon was mostly shut down (with the exception of rescue
efforts). I had to hunt hard to find a pizza place in
Alexandria that was still open and making pies. I ran home
to change clothes and go pick up a pizza. I learned a
valuable lesson that day as to what happens to pizza in a
box strapped to the back of a sport bike. By the time I
arrived back at the office, alternate food services had been
brought in for those shops still in operation. I don’t think
the pizza was too appetizing once I got “it” there, but I
tried. After returning with the pizza, reality began to set
in as the rescue personnel were taking body bags to the
center courtyard which had been designated as the morgue
(partly due to the fact the media had no access to that
area).
I remember how after I got
home that night and had showered, I couldn’t get the smell
of the smoke out of my nose. I tried everything I could
think of, but that smell stuck with me for a couple days.
And I can’t recall, but I think I may have thrown away the
uniform I wore that day due to the smell. After returning to
work on September 12, every vending machine had been
vandalized. In reality, the limited amount of food quickly
disappeared and the rescue workers had used their axes and
other equipment to “gain access” to the vending machines.
As for the days that
followed, I remember that there were daily briefings on
evacuation procedures if the fire spread around the roof. On
one morning, we were briefed to expect to evacuate by 10
a.m. if they couldn’t get the fire under control.
Interestingly, the challenge in getting the fire under
control was the fact that the shale stone roof was
apparently difficult to break into to spray water.
In the months that followed, even though I knew better, I
experienced a sense of guilt that 125 personnel in the
Pentagon perished in addition to the 64 on American Airlines
Flight 77 (excluding the hijackers); and that’s in addition
to the loss of life in New York. I felt guilty that my
experiences on September 11, 2001, were rather uneventful
compared to some of the tragic and truly heroic stories that
occurred that day in the Pentagon and New York. Why was I
that lucky? When people find out where I was they are
usually interested in hearing the details and typically find
it “cool.” As such, I typically don’t volunteer where I was
that day. In fact, this is the most detailed account I’ve
given of my day in about eight years.
Needless to say, I have some
opinions on the topic of keeping our flight decks secure
during flight and adhering to the best-practice procedures.
Captain Adam C. Wright, ExpressJet |