WEBVTT 00:00.240 --> 00:02.240 Thank you for joining us . I'm hank 00:02.240 --> 00:03.962 many trees from headquarters , 00:03.962 --> 00:06.018 Department of the Army G . One , the 00:06.018 --> 00:08.018 army's personnel director and we're 00:08.018 --> 00:09.962 here to talk to some 9 11 pentagon 00:09.962 --> 00:13.150 survivors . This September 11 marks the 00:13.150 --> 00:15.317 20th anniversary of the attacks on our 00:15.317 --> 00:17.630 country and the tragedy in New York 00:17.640 --> 00:19.720 here at the Pentagon and also that 00:19.720 --> 00:22.660 field in shanksville pennsylvania . The 00:22.660 --> 00:25.420 shared experience of September 11 , 00:25.420 --> 00:27.980 2001 unified our country . And 00:27.980 --> 00:30.230 americans who supported our soldiers 00:30.240 --> 00:32.518 are civilians and their family members . 00:32.518 --> 00:34.740 In fact , many of today's soldiers were 00:34.740 --> 00:36.570 inspired to join because of the 00:36.570 --> 00:39.820 horrific events Of 9 11 and they have 00:39.820 --> 00:42.042 served our country valiantly ever since 00:42.042 --> 00:45.530 then . On that Tuesday morning at 9 37 00:45.540 --> 00:48.320 american Airlines flight 77 crashed 00:48.320 --> 00:50.770 into the pentagon september 11th 2000 00:50.770 --> 00:54.180 and one , Killing 125 Department of 00:54.180 --> 00:56.350 defense employees , service members , 00:56.510 --> 00:59.070 civilians and contractors as well as 00:59.070 --> 01:02.650 the 59 souls on the aircraft that day . 01:03.740 --> 01:05.962 The headquarters department of the army 01:05.962 --> 01:08.129 G one which was back then known as the 01:08.129 --> 01:10.296 deputy Chief of staff for personnel or 01:10.296 --> 01:13.110 the desk per we lost 29 of our family 01:13.110 --> 01:15.670 members that day including the army G . 01:15.670 --> 01:17.892 One . Lieutenant General timothy maud , 01:17.892 --> 01:20.300 his senior enlisted advisor , sergeant , 01:20.300 --> 01:22.390 Major Larry Strickland and master 01:22.390 --> 01:25.950 sergeant . Retired max bell key who was 01:25.950 --> 01:27.950 already in the history books as the 01:27.950 --> 01:31.910 last soldier to leave the Vietnam . The 01:31.910 --> 01:34.160 panel members before you experience 01:34.160 --> 01:37.100 this event live in person every 01:37.100 --> 01:39.530 excruciating minute of every hour of 01:39.530 --> 01:41.480 that day and they have graciously 01:41.480 --> 01:44.620 agreed to join us today and share their 01:44.620 --> 01:46.660 stories and not just what they went 01:46.660 --> 01:48.882 through that day , but how they've been 01:48.882 --> 01:51.049 able to move forward in our mission of 01:51.049 --> 01:53.390 educating this generation so that we 01:53.390 --> 01:55.410 may never forget . I'd like to 01:55.410 --> 01:57.632 introduce them to you right now . First 01:57.632 --> 01:59.750 up is mr Mark Lewis . He is currently 01:59.750 --> 02:01.694 the senior official performing the 02:01.694 --> 02:03.750 duties of the Assistant Secretary of 02:03.750 --> 02:05.694 the army from manpower and reserve 02:05.694 --> 02:08.010 affairs back then , he was Colonel Mark 02:08.010 --> 02:10.066 Lewis . He was the director of plans 02:10.066 --> 02:12.830 and resources in the army . G one next 02:12.830 --> 02:14.900 to him is Mr Roy Wallace . He is the 02:14.900 --> 02:17.122 assistant deputy Chief of Staff for G . 02:17.122 --> 02:19.500 One Back then he was Colonel Roy 02:19.500 --> 02:21.390 Wallace . He was the Chief of 02:21.390 --> 02:23.620 compensation and entitlements for the 02:23.620 --> 02:26.200 army . G one back in the day next to 02:26.200 --> 02:28.640 him is dr jerry Kitzhaber . He is 02:28.640 --> 02:30.751 currently the principal deputy to the 02:30.751 --> 02:32.807 Assistant Secretary of the army from 02:32.807 --> 02:34.807 manpower and reserve affairs in the 02:34.807 --> 02:36.529 area of training readiness and 02:36.529 --> 02:38.380 mobilization back then he was 02:38.380 --> 02:40.350 Lieutenant Colonel jerry Kitzhaber 02:40.350 --> 02:42.406 working in the army G three , that's 02:42.406 --> 02:45.060 our operations arm of the army and on 02:45.060 --> 02:47.150 the end is Colonel retired Maryland 02:47.150 --> 02:50.280 Wills . She is an experienced educator . 02:50.280 --> 02:52.391 She has taught from elementary school 02:52.391 --> 02:54.280 all the way to university level . 02:54.280 --> 02:56.336 Currently an assistant director at a 02:56.336 --> 02:58.558 vaccination facility in Prince George's 02:58.558 --> 03:00.558 county Maryland back then . She was 03:00.558 --> 03:02.724 Lieutenant Colonel Marilyn Wills , one 03:02.724 --> 03:04.780 of our congressional affairs contact 03:04.780 --> 03:07.002 officers , our liaison between the army 03:07.002 --> 03:09.280 personnel directorate and capitol Hill . 03:10.040 --> 03:12.096 Now before we get to the Q's and A's 03:12.096 --> 03:14.207 and their opening statements , just a 03:14.207 --> 03:16.373 couple of housekeeping rules were here 03:16.373 --> 03:18.540 for an hour . We may not go the entire 03:18.540 --> 03:20.596 hour , but in the interest of giving 03:20.596 --> 03:22.707 the folks on zoom and on the phone an 03:22.707 --> 03:24.929 opportunity to ask questions along with 03:24.929 --> 03:27.040 those in the room , just ask that you 03:27.040 --> 03:26.850 limit yourself to one question and one 03:26.850 --> 03:29.017 follow up . If there's time for follow 03:29.017 --> 03:31.350 us at the end , we'll go there . If not , 03:31.350 --> 03:33.406 I'll give you the cue that it's time 03:33.406 --> 03:35.628 for the last question and we'll move on 03:35.628 --> 03:37.739 for those on the phone . If you would 03:37.739 --> 03:37.510 just please remember to keep yourselves 03:37.510 --> 03:40.070 on mute until it's your turn to be 03:40.070 --> 03:42.400 called upon Right now , I'd like to 03:42.400 --> 03:44.400 turn it over to the panel for their 03:44.400 --> 03:46.622 opening remarks , starting with Mr Mark 03:46.622 --> 03:49.050 Lewis , sir . Thank you Good morning 03:49.060 --> 03:51.060 and thank you to my colleagues also 03:51.060 --> 03:54.310 seated here at the table . It's always 03:54.310 --> 03:57.240 good to be with them as it was our 03:57.240 --> 03:59.550 colleagues who were the victims on that 03:59.940 --> 04:02.960 Horrific attack on 9 11 04:03.840 --> 04:06.750 and the remembrance of the victims in 04:06.750 --> 04:09.080 new york and shanksville pennsylvania . 04:09.080 --> 04:11.500 Also , I personally want to give a 04:11.500 --> 04:13.611 shout out to the first responders who 04:14.140 --> 04:17.950 quickly came to help us in that hour , 04:18.010 --> 04:21.050 that first hour after the attack . 04:21.640 --> 04:24.370 So thank you and thank you for keeping 04:24.370 --> 04:26.790 the memory of of our colleagues , 04:26.800 --> 04:28.800 particularly here in the pentagon . 04:28.800 --> 04:32.510 Keeping their memory alive . I'm 04:32.510 --> 04:34.790 participating today in honor of our 04:34.790 --> 04:37.370 colleagues who perished that day on 9 04:37.370 --> 04:39.370 11 . You can , you can never forget 04:39.370 --> 04:42.160 those that serve with you and then die 04:42.160 --> 04:45.750 in such a on programmed 04:46.340 --> 04:50.230 on forecasted manner , vicious way 04:50.230 --> 04:53.420 that they did . speaking about those 04:53.430 --> 04:56.530 specific people the 29 that were 04:56.530 --> 04:58.860 mentioned before by Mr Men Detras here 04:59.540 --> 05:01.651 that we're in our severe of influence 05:01.651 --> 05:04.080 in the pentagon . They were military 05:04.080 --> 05:07.170 and civilian employees of the 05:07.170 --> 05:08.892 Department of Defense and your 05:08.892 --> 05:10.781 government , the United States of 05:10.781 --> 05:13.170 America . They were serving their 05:13.170 --> 05:15.170 country through service . They were 05:15.170 --> 05:17.170 supporting their families in a most 05:17.170 --> 05:20.140 honorable way . And of course they 05:20.140 --> 05:21.918 earned their place in history . 05:21.918 --> 05:24.660 Following that day , we were at a 05:24.660 --> 05:26.970 relatively stable period , minimal 05:26.970 --> 05:29.930 deployments at that point in time in 05:29.930 --> 05:32.450 our army history . So all those folks 05:32.450 --> 05:34.870 that I just mentioned had been on 05:34.870 --> 05:37.220 station for quite a while and all of us , 05:38.040 --> 05:40.207 we're quite familiar with each other . 05:40.240 --> 05:43.920 And so the memories very vivid 05:43.930 --> 05:46.170 that we have them , there was no quick 05:46.180 --> 05:48.710 turnover going on on the staff at that 05:48.710 --> 05:50.710 point in time . It was professional 05:50.710 --> 05:53.470 staff and everybody had been 05:53.480 --> 05:56.610 interacting for some point in time . I 05:56.610 --> 05:58.790 mean , nobody had the imagination that 05:58.790 --> 06:00.960 we could attack an attack like that . 06:01.340 --> 06:04.480 That's been said before military 06:04.480 --> 06:06.730 targets and civilians . Uh , the way we 06:06.730 --> 06:09.480 were . Uh , but in other times in 06:09.480 --> 06:12.050 history , the unexpected also occurred , 06:12.540 --> 06:15.060 Pearl Harbor sinking of the maine 06:15.070 --> 06:18.580 Lebanon barracks , Khobar towers . They 06:18.590 --> 06:20.646 were all outside the United States . 06:20.646 --> 06:22.701 But who would suspect that we've had 06:22.701 --> 06:24.840 something like that inside the United 06:24.840 --> 06:27.610 States and that's the one of the 06:27.620 --> 06:29.676 teaching points that I talk to young 06:29.676 --> 06:31.940 people about that his history moves 06:31.940 --> 06:34.107 forward in the environment around us , 06:34.107 --> 06:36.540 changes . Uh , there's always going to 06:36.540 --> 06:38.762 be the unexpected and we always have to 06:38.762 --> 06:42.050 be ready . I consider the military and 06:42.050 --> 06:44.880 civilians killed there in on 9:11 at 06:44.880 --> 06:47.790 the Pentagon and around the rest of the 06:47.790 --> 06:50.830 United States . There at the tip of the 06:50.830 --> 06:53.100 iceberg . In my mind of this 20 year , 06:53.940 --> 06:56.660 a war that we on terror 06:57.240 --> 07:00.570 that was just completed a little over a 07:00.570 --> 07:03.470 week ago in the , in the minds of many . 07:03.480 --> 07:07.170 And uh , and I for one , I'm glad that 07:07.170 --> 07:10.740 it's , it's over and now it's ours 07:10.740 --> 07:14.010 to remember those that gave that 07:14.010 --> 07:17.320 sacrifice . We're not naive enough to 07:17.320 --> 07:19.598 believe it's going to be the last time . 07:19.598 --> 07:22.810 And so we just need to be ready . And 07:22.810 --> 07:25.032 the generations that come after us have 07:25.032 --> 07:27.088 got to got to be ready when you're a 07:27.088 --> 07:29.550 great nation . There's just people that 07:30.040 --> 07:32.151 that want what you want or don't like 07:32.151 --> 07:35.100 what you want or what you do . Uh , and 07:35.100 --> 07:36.989 uh , and there's consequences and 07:36.989 --> 07:40.030 sometimes they're bad consequences . Uh , 07:40.040 --> 07:42.320 my memories , General Maude was our 07:42.320 --> 07:46.320 senior person in G one . He was the 07:46.320 --> 07:49.120 quintessential general in my mind . He 07:49.120 --> 07:52.860 was smart , he's focused , 07:53.940 --> 07:57.610 he was personable , he was caring and 07:57.620 --> 08:01.300 extremely competent . I was due to see 08:01.300 --> 08:05.080 him . He'd been on leave just before 08:05.080 --> 08:08.750 that . I had been out for a week myself 08:09.420 --> 08:11.470 and in the middle of september you 08:11.470 --> 08:13.637 start thinking about year end resource 08:13.637 --> 08:16.770 games . I and the manpower chief needed 08:16.770 --> 08:19.060 to see him . He had a tight schedule . 08:19.840 --> 08:22.510 Uh , we went down about 9:15 to see him . 08:22.510 --> 08:25.340 He was busy and backed up the secretary 08:25.350 --> 08:27.720 Debbie ramp shirt , who was also a 08:27.720 --> 08:31.110 victim in the attack , told us that 08:31.110 --> 08:32.888 she'd call us and dry fit us in 08:33.370 --> 08:35.470 Somewhere around 9:30 Corps to 10 , 08:35.520 --> 08:38.390 whatever . Uh , and then we got a call 08:38.390 --> 08:41.050 that he uh , was still backed up . So 08:41.440 --> 08:44.810 we were on our way down and I was on 08:44.810 --> 08:46.866 the way back in the hallway when the 08:46.866 --> 08:49.560 explosion happened down quarter four , 08:50.440 --> 08:53.570 one of the events that immediately the 08:53.570 --> 08:57.400 building jolted and then quickly 08:57.410 --> 09:00.500 filled with smoke and quarter four 09:00.500 --> 09:04.350 along with the almost right , 09:04.740 --> 09:06.860 a prohibitive 09:07.940 --> 09:11.240 air to breathe was filled with jet fuel 09:11.370 --> 09:14.160 fumes throughout the corridor and then 09:14.160 --> 09:16.271 you would later be able to smell that 09:16.271 --> 09:18.750 jet fuel all over the pentagon . We had 09:18.750 --> 09:20.990 just moved into that section that was 09:20.990 --> 09:23.940 section one of the rehab and we had 09:23.940 --> 09:26.273 moved in there a few months before this , 09:26.740 --> 09:29.950 one of the new adaptations in that 09:31.240 --> 09:33.900 uh new wing was the fire doors came out 09:33.900 --> 09:36.650 of the ceiling . They did a come left 09:36.650 --> 09:38.761 to right like you see most fire doors 09:38.761 --> 09:41.980 now came down . So immediately when the 09:41.990 --> 09:44.212 building got jolted and the alarms went 09:44.212 --> 09:46.212 off , Those doors came down and you 09:46.212 --> 09:48.323 were trapped , you had to fire at one 09:48.323 --> 09:51.240 end and you had a door fire door down 09:51.240 --> 09:53.000 the other and you were in this 09:53.000 --> 09:56.750 container of smoke jet fuel 09:56.760 --> 09:59.620 and people running around who were 09:59.620 --> 10:01.564 disoriented because if you weren't 10:01.564 --> 10:03.620 familiar exactly what the building , 10:03.620 --> 10:06.090 you see the out in the building , 10:06.090 --> 10:08.450 you'll see those reflective tapes down 10:08.450 --> 10:10.506 around the borders of the hallways , 10:10.506 --> 10:12.617 those weren't there before , that was 10:12.617 --> 10:14.617 an after action piece that came out 10:15.240 --> 10:19.030 after the fire or after . Uh we thought 10:19.030 --> 10:21.197 about that in the pentagon , put these 10:21.197 --> 10:23.363 reflective arrows and stuff in there . 10:23.363 --> 10:25.419 Some people could be oriented should 10:25.419 --> 10:27.641 that kind of situation happened again ? 10:27.641 --> 10:31.340 Hopefully not . Uh it 10:31.350 --> 10:33.683 people like I said we're running around , 10:33.683 --> 10:35.794 they were coming down from downstairs 10:35.794 --> 10:38.630 which was also on fire grabbing people 10:38.630 --> 10:41.170 on the neck . People weren't 10:41.170 --> 10:43.392 particularly shrieking or crying that I 10:43.392 --> 10:45.614 remember but they were asking how do we 10:45.614 --> 10:48.470 get out of here And down towards the 10:48.470 --> 10:50.810 end of quarter four where it connects 10:50.810 --> 10:54.150 with the ring is an office and it just 10:54.150 --> 10:56.317 happened to be my office at the time . 10:56.740 --> 10:59.950 And and Roy worked in there also , 11:00.540 --> 11:03.790 it had a double door that opened off a 11:03.790 --> 11:05.846 quarter four but it had an exit door 11:05.846 --> 11:07.734 that went out to the a ring so we 11:07.734 --> 11:09.623 wedged the doors open and started 11:09.623 --> 11:11.679 shoving people through those offices 11:11.679 --> 11:13.846 that could get out of quarter four and 11:13.846 --> 11:13.670 out into the air ring and then of 11:13.670 --> 11:16.880 course , oh away from the fire and out 11:16.880 --> 11:20.630 of the building . Ah And 11:20.630 --> 11:23.960 as people evacuated of course are are 11:25.040 --> 11:27.960 find turn to who is in the 11:28.340 --> 11:31.150 fire On the other side of Quarter four . 11:31.640 --> 11:34.470 And some here we're working in that 11:34.470 --> 11:37.800 area let them tell that piece . But the 11:37.800 --> 11:40.470 rest of us we're trying to grab people 11:40.470 --> 11:42.610 out of their got pretty hot to get in 11:42.610 --> 11:45.510 there um and shuffle them down , get 11:45.510 --> 11:47.566 them oriented going down the hallway 11:47.740 --> 11:50.660 and and then shuffle them out to the 11:50.670 --> 11:53.930 ring and then they dispersed following 11:53.930 --> 11:56.110 that and we can discuss that in the 11:56.120 --> 11:59.100 question and answer . Uh Then it turned 11:59.100 --> 12:02.400 to accountability very quickly after 12:02.400 --> 12:05.830 weeks had rescued what we could get out 12:05.830 --> 12:09.510 of the burning building and then that 12:09.510 --> 12:12.940 went on for For 24 hours to account for 12:12.940 --> 12:15.220 everybody with that . I think I'll stop 12:15.230 --> 12:17.119 and get off the stage and let the 12:17.119 --> 12:20.000 colleagues . Thank you . Mr Lewis Mr 12:20.000 --> 12:23.290 Wallace . Okay so as hank said I'm Roy 12:23.290 --> 12:25.346 Wallace . I'm the deputy G . One for 12:25.346 --> 12:27.401 the army . That means the number two 12:27.401 --> 12:31.240 personnel list inside the army on that 12:31.250 --> 12:34.120 day believe it or not . I was working 12:34.130 --> 12:37.450 for a uh family group life insurance 12:38.070 --> 12:41.110 that's when that It was 2001 when we 12:41.110 --> 12:43.860 started allowing our service members to 12:43.860 --> 12:46.210 foreign a little additional money to to 12:46.220 --> 12:48.900 ensure their families And I was 15 12:48.900 --> 12:51.640 minutes out of general mods office uh 12:51.650 --> 12:54.140 to go in there and explain to him why 12:54.140 --> 12:56.307 Prudential Life insurance wanted it to 12:56.307 --> 13:00.150 be opt in and opt out instead of opt in 13:00.940 --> 13:04.490 uh one . I'll give you one then 13:04.490 --> 13:07.340 yet . So after we got shoot out , if I 13:07.340 --> 13:10.760 was in two B . Four to C . 4 53 13:11.440 --> 13:14.790 Um which about 50 ft from the path of 13:14.790 --> 13:17.700 the plane As it slid through , I'm here 13:17.710 --> 13:20.430 I believe to tell the story of the 29 13:20.430 --> 13:22.830 people that passed that day In the G 13:22.830 --> 13:26.550 one . Uh I myself 13:26.560 --> 13:29.320 after the oxygen got sucked out of what 13:29.320 --> 13:32.610 we call the cubicle farm huge . The 13:32.620 --> 13:36.350 walls were C ring and the ring so 13:36.350 --> 13:39.260 massive amount of oxygen which fires 13:39.640 --> 13:42.940 obviously love if you go back into that 13:42.940 --> 13:45.660 same area today there's four walls in 13:45.660 --> 13:48.490 there . It breaks it up and gives 13:48.490 --> 13:50.810 people a lot more time After we got 13:50.810 --> 13:53.032 everybody out , myself and three others 13:53.032 --> 13:55.300 were standing in the 4th corridor at 13:55.300 --> 13:58.950 the junction of the C . Ring . When 13:59.340 --> 14:01.910 out of that smoke and fire that Mark 14:01.910 --> 14:04.840 talked about came Lieutenant Colonel 14:04.840 --> 14:07.300 brian Birdwell and he fell right in 14:07.300 --> 14:10.830 front of us . We had no idea that he 14:10.830 --> 14:13.600 was as badly burned as he was . Our 14:13.600 --> 14:16.610 uniforms at that particular time were 14:16.610 --> 14:18.710 polyester and if you've ever taken a 14:18.710 --> 14:21.090 match to polyester , you know that it 14:21.090 --> 14:24.940 turns into a molten glob . And 14:24.940 --> 14:27.430 he had he was wearing his polyester 14:27.430 --> 14:30.660 uniform different with it mattered to 14:30.660 --> 14:32.880 him . And the four of us picked him up 14:32.890 --> 14:36.860 and we started for the uh avery when we 14:36.860 --> 14:38.916 got to to that a bring , we ran into 14:38.916 --> 14:41.027 that fire door that Mark talked about 14:41.027 --> 14:43.570 talked about we had never seen it . We 14:43.570 --> 14:45.514 didn't know how to operate it . It 14:45.514 --> 14:47.626 wasn't clearly marked . If you go see 14:47.626 --> 14:50.000 that fire door today you will see that 14:50.000 --> 14:53.450 it has a nice fluorescent orange 14:54.340 --> 14:56.396 Panel on it that you can hit it . It 14:56.396 --> 14:58.507 opens for five minutes and then shuts 14:58.507 --> 15:00.673 again to allow you through . But we we 15:00.673 --> 15:02.784 hit that door and didn't know what to 15:02.784 --> 15:04.690 do . Uh Lieutenant Colonel Bill 15:04.690 --> 15:07.310 Mckinnon grabbed his badge , our badges 15:07.310 --> 15:09.820 operate the doors and he swiped through 15:09.820 --> 15:12.270 the B . Ring and out into the A ring 15:12.270 --> 15:14.381 while we were carrying brian Birdwell 15:14.381 --> 15:16.492 where we were just happened to be met 15:16.492 --> 15:19.050 by triage nurses from Di Lorenzo Clinic 15:19.240 --> 15:21.690 Which is our hospital off of Corridor 15:21.700 --> 15:25.360 eight and they started treating him uh 15:25.370 --> 15:28.220 if it wasn't for that we would bryan 15:28.220 --> 15:30.630 would probably not be alive today . So 15:30.630 --> 15:33.600 after many surgeries brian Birdwell is 15:33.600 --> 15:35.990 now in texas . He lives near san 15:35.990 --> 15:38.940 Antonio which is the home of the army's 15:38.950 --> 15:42.370 premiere burn unit . Uh and he 15:42.370 --> 15:45.860 ministers to burn victims there . He's 15:45.860 --> 15:47.693 also a member of the texas state 15:47.693 --> 15:49.870 legislature . So there are a lot of 15:49.870 --> 15:51.981 good things that came out of 9:11 and 15:51.981 --> 15:54.092 the horror that there was there and I 15:54.092 --> 15:56.092 will stop there and turn it over to 15:56.092 --> 15:58.670 jerry . Thank you again . My name is 15:58.670 --> 16:00.726 jerry . Kitzhaber and the deputy for 16:00.726 --> 16:02.892 training readiness and mobilization in 16:02.892 --> 16:04.670 the S . A . M . N . R . A . Man 16:04.670 --> 16:07.960 Partners of affairs . Um On that day I 16:07.960 --> 16:10.200 was in the working for the collective 16:10.200 --> 16:12.370 training division in the army at the 16:12.380 --> 16:14.324 time was called Desktops and I was 16:14.324 --> 16:17.680 called the G- 357 . Um arrived at 16:17.680 --> 16:20.300 work about 8:00 that morning like just 16:20.300 --> 16:22.633 about every day after I went to the gym , 16:22.633 --> 16:24.744 been working on a project for General 16:24.744 --> 16:26.967 Webster who is the director of training 16:26.967 --> 16:29.133 and I was supposed to bring it down to 16:29.133 --> 16:31.244 him sometime that morning . He didn't 16:31.244 --> 16:33.356 have a set time . We were actually on 16:33.356 --> 16:35.530 the third floor Fourth Corridor and 16:35.540 --> 16:37.762 General Webster's Office was right next 16:37.762 --> 16:39.940 to the G three . The G three's office 16:39.950 --> 16:42.790 was right above the G . One which was 16:42.790 --> 16:44.734 hit . They lost two people in that 16:44.734 --> 16:47.100 office that morning . We we've learned 16:47.100 --> 16:49.390 about the plane crashes in new york . 16:49.400 --> 16:52.080 And so I called my wife to alert her to 16:52.090 --> 16:54.201 turn the tv on and just to see what's 16:54.201 --> 16:58.160 going on . Um And I 16:58.740 --> 17:00.740 I was trying to get down to General 17:00.740 --> 17:02.629 Webster's office but every time I 17:02.629 --> 17:04.740 seemed to get way late for one reason 17:04.740 --> 17:05.950 or another . Um And 17:08.240 --> 17:11.270 then as I was just about ready to leave , 17:11.280 --> 17:14.270 my phone rang and it was my wife and 17:14.270 --> 17:16.760 she we talked for a second and we're 17:16.760 --> 17:19.490 going to go out for For dinner that 17:19.490 --> 17:22.180 night and we decided to cancel because 17:22.190 --> 17:25.590 September 11 is my birthday so we 17:25.590 --> 17:28.740 cancel that . Um and then she asked me 17:29.010 --> 17:31.066 if I was okay there am I safe in the 17:31.066 --> 17:33.270 pentagon and of course I said sure 17:33.270 --> 17:36.340 nothing happens here . Unfortunately I 17:36.340 --> 17:40.300 wasn't true . Um but we only 17:40.300 --> 17:43.010 spoke for a few minutes and I hung up 17:43.010 --> 17:45.177 the phone and just turned around . The 17:45.177 --> 17:47.300 plane hit and I was in the B ring and 17:47.300 --> 17:49.300 there was a window right next to my 17:49.300 --> 17:51.411 office . So there's a it's called the 17:51.411 --> 17:53.633 any drive that goes between the B . And 17:53.633 --> 17:55.800 the C . Ring for maintenance and other 17:55.800 --> 17:57.911 vehicles . And the plane came through 17:57.911 --> 18:00.078 the C ring right beneath our office on 18:00.078 --> 18:02.133 the opposite side . And so there was 18:02.133 --> 18:02.120 rocks and debris and I thought the 18:02.120 --> 18:04.287 windows are going to come in on top of 18:04.287 --> 18:06.453 us . Unfortunately they did not but in 18:06.453 --> 18:08.640 any event had I not received that call 18:08.640 --> 18:10.862 for my wife . I had been on my way down 18:10.862 --> 18:12.862 to General Webster's office and the 18:12.862 --> 18:14.973 plane struck the g . That side of the 18:14.973 --> 18:17.150 building was between where I was and 18:17.150 --> 18:19.428 where during what Webster's office was . 18:20.540 --> 18:24.330 So from there we evacuated a very 18:24.330 --> 18:26.441 orderly fashion . Nobody panicked . I 18:26.441 --> 18:28.430 think as Mark mentioned got in the 18:28.430 --> 18:30.700 center courtyard and we're we're doing 18:30.700 --> 18:34.040 accountability looking around and then 18:34.040 --> 18:37.540 I noticed some uh huh people in Air 18:37.540 --> 18:39.540 Force uniforms were standing in one 18:39.540 --> 18:41.651 spot looking at the ground and I went 18:41.651 --> 18:43.762 over to see what they were looking at 18:43.762 --> 18:45.873 and there was a piece of the airplane 18:45.873 --> 18:45.770 laying there in the center courtyard 18:45.770 --> 18:47.937 about the size of a turkey platter and 18:47.937 --> 18:50.250 it had stripes from the airplane . So 18:50.250 --> 18:52.450 we knew at that point that clearly 18:52.460 --> 18:55.660 we've been hit by an airplane . Um , 18:58.440 --> 19:00.773 and I asked one of my colleagues at the , 19:00.773 --> 19:02.996 at the time we stood there and I said , 19:02.996 --> 19:02.890 well there was two planes hit in new 19:02.890 --> 19:05.057 york . We knew that much . I said , so 19:05.057 --> 19:07.168 where is the second one ? He said , I 19:07.168 --> 19:06.390 don't know . And I said , well , you 19:06.390 --> 19:09.360 think waiting here is a good idea ? And 19:09.420 --> 19:11.531 his eyes got huge and he said , let's 19:11.531 --> 19:13.253 get out of here . So we went , 19:13.440 --> 19:15.607 attempted to go in the eighth corridor 19:15.607 --> 19:17.662 and it was like a stampede of people 19:17.662 --> 19:19.773 coming out of the eighth corridor and 19:19.773 --> 19:21.662 we're just sort of at least I was 19:21.662 --> 19:23.718 expecting something else to happen . 19:23.718 --> 19:25.940 And that just didn't seem right to me . 19:25.940 --> 19:28.162 So we went back in the center courtyard 19:28.162 --> 19:30.430 and at that point they were bringing uh 19:30.440 --> 19:32.551 some of the injured people out of the 19:32.551 --> 19:34.440 building . They were bleeding and 19:34.440 --> 19:36.790 burned as I pointed out . Um , and 19:36.790 --> 19:39.150 security then ushered us out of the 19:39.160 --> 19:41.493 center courtyard into the south parking . 19:41.493 --> 19:44.000 Just as we got in the south parking a p 19:44.000 --> 19:45.778 a horn on one of the squad cars 19:45.778 --> 19:47.333 announced that there was an 19:47.333 --> 19:49.167 unidentified plane coming in our 19:49.167 --> 19:51.389 direction to clear the parking lot . So 19:51.389 --> 19:53.611 the whole south parking lot was full of 19:53.611 --> 19:55.778 people and they're all moving south to 19:55.778 --> 19:55.340 get under the underpass , it was under 19:55.340 --> 19:57.890 3 95 and my boss and I looked and I 19:57.890 --> 19:59.834 said that did not look like a good 19:59.834 --> 20:01.723 place to be because again we were 20:01.723 --> 20:03.834 expecting something else was going to 20:03.834 --> 20:06.057 happen and so we went to the far end of 20:06.057 --> 20:08.279 the parking lot and noticed there was a 20:08.279 --> 20:10.700 delivery truck that had stopped and 20:10.700 --> 20:12.922 there was someone standing out in front 20:12.922 --> 20:15.033 and we assume that was the driver and 20:15.033 --> 20:17.144 it was and he looked a little peek it 20:17.144 --> 20:17.060 and we came up and asked him are you 20:17.060 --> 20:19.282 okay ? And he said well yeah I was just 20:19.282 --> 20:21.393 here to deliver my load and I heard a 20:21.393 --> 20:23.616 noise and looked up and I saw the plane 20:23.616 --> 20:25.782 coming in and then he said and the son 20:25.782 --> 20:27.949 of a gunned the engines just before he 20:27.949 --> 20:30.060 came in and we're just sort of trying 20:30.060 --> 20:33.250 to process that and the next thing he 20:33.250 --> 20:35.361 said kind of took us by surprise , he 20:35.361 --> 20:37.660 said he could see the people in the 20:37.660 --> 20:39.771 windows of the airplane as it came in 20:41.440 --> 20:43.607 and we just didn't know how to process 20:43.607 --> 20:47.180 that for a second . So uh after that we 20:47.190 --> 20:49.660 went over to the Pentagon city mall and 20:49.660 --> 20:51.604 stood there in the parking lot and 20:51.604 --> 20:53.493 someone was able to get most cell 20:53.493 --> 20:55.604 phones didn't work . one guy did have 20:55.604 --> 20:57.827 communication with wife , he passed the 20:57.827 --> 21:00.049 phone around and we gave his wife , our 21:00.049 --> 21:02.271 wife's name , our home phone number and 21:02.271 --> 21:04.870 our name and then she made calls to the 21:04.880 --> 21:08.530 wives of everyone that was there and 21:08.600 --> 21:10.600 right after that the two F sixteens 21:10.600 --> 21:13.870 flew over piloted by Marx Asheville and 21:13.880 --> 21:16.450 heather Penney and at that point I kind 21:16.450 --> 21:18.617 of sort of felt okay , I don't think I 21:18.617 --> 21:20.783 have to worry about anymore aeroplanes 21:20.783 --> 21:22.617 falling out of this guy . Uh not 21:22.617 --> 21:24.990 knowing uh in any event , I meant made 21:24.990 --> 21:27.212 it over to a friend's house , he bet me 21:27.212 --> 21:28.990 supper that night , he lived on 21:28.990 --> 21:31.157 Columbia pike which is right nearby In 21:31.157 --> 21:33.790 about 5:30 , gave me a ride home and my 21:33.790 --> 21:35.990 wife wasn't too worried until I showed 21:35.990 --> 21:37.823 her exactly where I was and what 21:37.823 --> 21:39.934 happened in the pentagon and then she 21:39.934 --> 21:42.157 got a little bit worried . Her mother , 21:42.540 --> 21:44.830 my wife is Japanese center and grew up 21:44.830 --> 21:47.500 in Japan and her mother was in Tokyo 21:47.510 --> 21:50.140 during World war two , It was 15 at the 21:50.140 --> 21:52.050 end of World War II . So she was 21:52.050 --> 21:54.670 visibly shaken , very upset and worried 21:54.680 --> 21:57.340 she had seen war before and this was a 21:57.340 --> 21:59.451 little too close to comfort for her . 21:59.640 --> 22:02.190 Um so I can see how she was worried 22:02.200 --> 22:05.250 based upon her background . So with 22:05.250 --> 22:07.780 that alternative over to going once . 22:08.540 --> 22:12.090 Well thank you and good morning um 22:12.100 --> 22:14.700 thanks for the army . The army always 22:14.700 --> 22:16.867 has a special way of pulling September 22:16.867 --> 22:19.080 11 together and so thank you for 22:19.080 --> 22:22.000 inviting me on this panel , You know 22:22.000 --> 22:24.111 prayers and thoughts go out to all of 22:24.111 --> 22:26.333 those who were affected by September 11 22:27.550 --> 22:30.810 in new york in pennsylvania and of 22:30.810 --> 22:34.590 course here in the pentagon So who am 22:34.590 --> 22:37.380 I ? I am retired from the army after 30 22:37.380 --> 22:40.410 years . Um , I will say every day . I 22:40.410 --> 22:42.640 loved it . Uh some people will say I 22:42.640 --> 22:44.830 was crazy but I loved it . A military 22:44.830 --> 22:47.390 police officer . Um and if you know the 22:47.390 --> 22:50.780 army we change jobs over time . So my 22:50.780 --> 22:53.860 last job when I was in the pentagon was 22:53.860 --> 22:57.210 the congressional Affairs Officer and I 22:57.210 --> 22:59.321 was the Congressional Affairs officer 22:59.321 --> 23:01.432 for the G one which was General Maude 23:01.432 --> 23:03.654 and Mark Lewis . And while he's sitting 23:03.654 --> 23:06.350 here on the table for me , september 23:06.350 --> 23:08.406 11th started as a beautiful sunday , 23:08.410 --> 23:11.480 sunday morning , sunny morning , my 23:11.480 --> 23:13.536 family and I would always get up and 23:13.536 --> 23:15.758 pray together . I have two girls and my 23:15.758 --> 23:17.647 husband but that morning I didn't 23:18.340 --> 23:20.451 Because I know I had a meeting in the 23:20.451 --> 23:23.030 Pentagon and I only live 16 miles from 23:23.030 --> 23:25.540 here but it could take you 2.5 hours 23:25.540 --> 23:27.596 because of the traffic . Now again , 23:27.596 --> 23:31.580 this is pretty covid . Mhm I snapped 23:31.580 --> 23:33.720 my girls kissed him and I got on the 23:33.720 --> 23:36.750 road heading this way singing my song 23:36.750 --> 23:38.870 having a great time for an hour and a 23:38.870 --> 23:41.290 half in the traffic as I arrived to the 23:41.290 --> 23:43.760 building . I knew we were in this great 23:43.760 --> 23:47.360 new area . You've already heard that it 23:47.360 --> 23:50.620 was uh part of wedge one reconstruction 23:50.630 --> 23:52.630 and we , it was just great to be in 23:52.630 --> 23:55.100 this new part of the pentagon at nine 23:55.100 --> 23:57.322 o'clock we had a meeting we know in the 23:57.322 --> 23:59.433 army if you were there at nine you're 23:59.433 --> 24:01.322 late . So I got there at least 15 24:01.322 --> 24:03.544 minutes early . It's always cold in the 24:03.544 --> 24:05.656 building to me . So I went back to my 24:05.656 --> 24:08.280 office on the C ring uh second floor 24:08.290 --> 24:12.050 and grab my army sweater . I went on to 24:12.050 --> 24:14.050 the conference room where there are 24:14.050 --> 24:16.240 about 16 of us in this conference room 24:16.250 --> 24:18.770 for the G one . My Chief of Staff 24:18.770 --> 24:21.960 Colonel Mcnair let that meeting . 24:22.940 --> 24:25.430 We knew nothing of New York because our 24:25.430 --> 24:28.060 meeting started at nine promptly at 24:28.060 --> 24:32.050 nine as we went around the table I 24:32.050 --> 24:34.272 just glanced at my watch and said oh my 24:34.272 --> 24:37.020 gosh it's 9 20 m going a little long 24:37.020 --> 24:39.890 because I had not spoken yet about five 24:39.890 --> 24:42.001 after nine it would be time for me to 24:42.001 --> 24:44.290 speak and give out information to the 24:44.300 --> 24:47.670 staff . As soon as my turn 24:48.340 --> 24:51.860 to speak it was the loudest explosion 24:52.050 --> 24:54.970 I had ever heard . The room was 24:54.980 --> 24:58.380 completely dark . I was on the right 24:58.380 --> 25:01.150 side of the table . I was blown to the 25:01.150 --> 25:03.261 left side of the table which would be 25:03.261 --> 25:06.840 closer to the inner ear ring . I knew 25:06.850 --> 25:09.520 there was a door in that room , not the 25:09.520 --> 25:11.687 door that I entered , but I knew there 25:11.687 --> 25:14.820 was a door on the whole way so I 25:14.820 --> 25:17.490 crawled to that door and I grabbed the 25:17.490 --> 25:19.870 handover , pull my hand back because 25:19.870 --> 25:21.560 that door was so hot . 25:24.240 --> 25:26.407 Then I crawled back across the room to 25:26.407 --> 25:28.629 go out of the door that I had entered , 25:29.440 --> 25:31.384 not knowing that there were people 25:31.384 --> 25:34.840 behind me . As I crawled , someone 25:34.840 --> 25:37.430 grabbed ahold of my belt and I ask who 25:37.430 --> 25:39.640 is this ? Talk to me , Who is this ? 25:39.920 --> 25:42.110 And she said her name , her name was 25:42.110 --> 25:44.880 louis stevens and I told Lois , hold on 25:44.880 --> 25:46.830 to me , I have you don't let me go 25:46.990 --> 25:49.160 where I go , you go , hold on to me . 25:49.740 --> 25:52.920 So I knew it wasn't about Maryland . I 25:52.920 --> 25:55.520 continued to crawl and we crawled out 25:55.520 --> 25:57.770 of the conference room to the left . 25:58.740 --> 26:01.210 Now we know that we crawl to the right . 26:01.580 --> 26:03.800 I wouldn't be sitting here because 26:03.800 --> 26:06.060 that's the image you see when you see 26:06.060 --> 26:08.440 the pentagon and it's completely 26:08.440 --> 26:11.450 destroyed . We crawled to the left 26:12.440 --> 26:14.551 through this dilbert form that you've 26:14.551 --> 26:17.250 heard mentioned on the table . I 26:17.250 --> 26:19.540 crawled under cubicles , we could not 26:19.540 --> 26:22.750 see anything . I could not see my hand 26:22.760 --> 26:24.927 if I put it on my nose and I know it's 26:24.927 --> 26:27.420 there and I continue to talk to lourdes 26:27.420 --> 26:29.642 to encourage her to say you're gonna be 26:29.642 --> 26:31.698 okay , we're gonna get out of here . 26:31.840 --> 26:33.951 Lawyers tugged at me and she said she 26:33.951 --> 26:36.480 couldn't go any further . She had 26:36.480 --> 26:39.710 nylons on and her stockings were melt 26:39.710 --> 26:42.840 into her legs . She said , Colonel , I 26:42.840 --> 26:45.007 can't go any further . And I said , oh 26:45.007 --> 26:47.007 yes , you can just get on my back , 26:47.007 --> 26:49.062 I'll carry you don't carry you lewis 26:49.540 --> 26:51.484 when we stopped , there were three 26:51.484 --> 26:54.630 other people behind Lois Regina . Grant 26:54.640 --> 26:57.690 was on this crawl with me . We continue 26:57.690 --> 27:01.690 to crawl on Loi stopped me again and 27:01.690 --> 27:03.990 said , Colonel , I can't breathe . I 27:03.990 --> 27:06.820 had my black army sweater . Thank God . 27:06.820 --> 27:09.780 I went back to get it and I started 27:09.780 --> 27:12.020 sucking on my sweater and I passed it 27:12.020 --> 27:15.040 to louis to say here on the sweater and 27:15.040 --> 27:17.990 she sucked on the sweater and a call 27:17.990 --> 27:19.860 for Regina . She wasn't there . 27:22.740 --> 27:25.850 That was devastating . We continue to 27:25.850 --> 27:28.460 crawl . I can't tell you how long 27:29.640 --> 27:33.370 but I knew that was a window on that C 27:33.370 --> 27:36.410 ring so I continued to crawl to that C 27:36.410 --> 27:39.840 ring window . We got to the 27:39.840 --> 27:42.630 window as we all know . The windows are 27:42.640 --> 27:46.420 bomb blast . But there was a soldier 27:46.420 --> 27:49.770 standard to my right because the window 27:49.770 --> 27:51.881 we could see a bit out of it , it was 27:51.881 --> 27:53.992 cloudy . But I could see this soldier 27:53.992 --> 27:55.881 to my right . We knew there was a 27:55.881 --> 27:57.826 printer there . So we say grab the 27:57.826 --> 28:01.220 printer and throw it in the window . It 28:01.220 --> 28:05.030 wouldn't break the printer 28:05.040 --> 28:08.840 fell into my lap on my thighs . I 28:08.840 --> 28:11.062 continue to say we're gonna make it try 28:11.062 --> 28:13.173 it again . Colonel Mcnair said , well 28:13.173 --> 28:15.730 let's kick the frame so the soldier 28:15.730 --> 28:17.730 myself , Colonel Mcnair starting to 28:17.730 --> 28:20.880 pound on the frame of this window . It 28:20.880 --> 28:23.630 packed small enough for a child to get 28:23.640 --> 28:27.120 through it . We continue to pound on it 28:27.130 --> 28:29.380 and the frame popped open the smoke 28:29.380 --> 28:31.960 just bellowed out of the window . 28:32.740 --> 28:35.320 Specialist Petrovic was burned pretty 28:35.320 --> 28:37.770 bad . So we lowered him out of the 28:37.770 --> 28:40.840 window . There was a Navy captain 28:40.850 --> 28:43.760 standing at the bottom . Craig Powell ! 28:44.140 --> 28:47.200 He said , don't , I'll catch you . So 28:47.200 --> 28:50.220 he caught Petrovich . We Lord Lord 28:50.220 --> 28:52.990 stevens out of the window . He caught 28:52.990 --> 28:56.870 Lois , we lowered Miss day out of the 28:56.870 --> 28:59.120 window . She looked me dead in the eyes 28:59.120 --> 29:01.231 and said , Colonel , I can't let go . 29:02.140 --> 29:05.590 So I peeled her fingers from my hand as 29:05.590 --> 29:08.450 she fell . She was well in her arms and 29:08.450 --> 29:11.060 legs and unfortunately she injured 29:11.540 --> 29:14.740 Captain Powell , Craig Powell . So when 29:14.740 --> 29:18.140 her fall he failed as well . So Colonel 29:18.140 --> 29:20.610 Mcnair and I sit in the window . And I 29:20.610 --> 29:24.010 told him , sir , if we're quiet , maybe 29:24.010 --> 29:27.510 we'll hear someone . So we sat in the 29:27.510 --> 29:31.200 window , We Heard No one . I knew 29:31.200 --> 29:34.640 Regina was in that room , so I told him , 29:34.640 --> 29:36.751 sir , let's try to go back , let's go 29:36.751 --> 29:39.550 back . Colonel Mcnair said , I'll go 29:39.550 --> 29:43.010 back . So he turned to go back and as I 29:43.010 --> 29:45.288 look for him , I continue to say , sir , 29:45.288 --> 29:47.454 can you hear me ? Can you hear me talk 29:47.454 --> 29:51.340 to me ? He couldn't have been 10 , 29:51.350 --> 29:54.010 10 ft from me . He turned and came back 29:54.030 --> 29:56.300 to Maryland can't do it . I said , well 29:56.300 --> 29:58.467 yell and scream , Maybe they'll hear a 29:58.467 --> 30:01.590 voice and they'll come to us . We 30:01.590 --> 30:03.590 yelled and screamed . No one came . 30:06.240 --> 30:08.129 Colonel Mcnair at that point said 30:08.129 --> 30:10.073 Colonel , you will get out of this 30:10.073 --> 30:11.129 window right now . 30:15.740 --> 30:18.690 The only decision in the army I did not 30:18.700 --> 30:22.360 want to obey . The only order I 30:22.360 --> 30:25.210 did not want to obey because I knew 30:25.220 --> 30:28.230 Regina was in that building . I knew 30:28.230 --> 30:31.350 Marion server was in that building 30:33.140 --> 30:35.362 so what's the Colonel and I sat on that 30:35.362 --> 30:37.473 window seal people in that corridor , 30:37.490 --> 30:39.546 they start to make a human ladder of 30:39.546 --> 30:41.960 themselves . So as I came out of the 30:41.960 --> 30:45.100 window I stepped on arms and legs and 30:45.100 --> 30:48.600 heads and and I fell and craig Powell 30:48.600 --> 30:52.230 caught me and they they tried to take 30:52.230 --> 30:54.260 me off . I said no I want to see 30:54.260 --> 30:56.371 Colonel Mcnair come down to know that 30:56.371 --> 30:59.040 he is safe . So I was able to see 30:59.040 --> 31:01.096 Colonel Mcnair come out of that room 31:01.096 --> 31:04.870 that window and I was taken to triage 31:04.870 --> 31:05.870 and center court 31:10.840 --> 31:12.960 but we lost so many that day . My 31:12.960 --> 31:16.920 friends , the young man who said in 31:16.920 --> 31:20.360 my chair Marion server 31:20.840 --> 31:23.570 you know she had a daughter who was 31:23.580 --> 31:25.747 getting ready to go to college and the 31:25.747 --> 31:27.913 relationship she had with her daughter 31:27.913 --> 31:29.969 is the relationship I wanted to have 31:29.969 --> 31:32.260 with my girls . So I think of her often 31:32.270 --> 31:34.437 and I think of her daughter , think of 31:34.437 --> 31:38.240 all of those who we lost injuries and 31:38.250 --> 31:41.220 medals and all of those things . The 31:41.220 --> 31:43.276 injuries happen . The medals are not 31:43.276 --> 31:44.942 something that you want to be 31:44.942 --> 31:46.050 recognized for 31:52.340 --> 31:54.550 but a terrible day but great things 31:54.550 --> 31:58.450 happen after that thank you Miss Wells 31:58.940 --> 32:01.107 with that , we'll go ahead and open it 32:01.107 --> 32:03.329 up to questions and we'll start here in 32:03.329 --> 32:05.607 the room , mike , Lynn europe , thanks . 32:05.607 --> 32:07.662 So I was wondering if somebody could 32:07.662 --> 32:11.290 talk about the seeing the end 32:11.300 --> 32:14.670 of of this 20 year 32:15.340 --> 32:19.330 experience being at the beginning of 32:19.330 --> 32:21.530 it and now , you know , seeing the end 32:21.530 --> 32:24.940 of it , what does that mean to any of 32:24.940 --> 32:28.050 you ? Is it I mean , You know , I was 32:28.050 --> 32:30.050 in combat to and I know what combat 32:30.050 --> 32:32.217 last , you know , this has gone on for 32:32.217 --> 32:34.439 20 years now , you know , starting from 32:34.439 --> 32:36.661 this experience here in New York and in 32:36.661 --> 32:38.828 Shanksville , what does it mean to see 32:38.828 --> 32:40.661 this finally come to a come to a 32:40.661 --> 32:42.883 conclusion whether or not it's the best 32:42.883 --> 32:46.080 conclusion , you know , we wanted and 32:46.080 --> 32:50.010 for whoever wants to wants to take 32:50.010 --> 32:53.220 that . Well , like I said in opening 32:53.220 --> 32:55.331 our ticket for a second year , like I 32:55.331 --> 32:57.730 said in the opening marks , I think all 32:57.730 --> 33:00.270 of us should be glad that combat is 33:00.270 --> 33:02.660 ceased . Um 33:03.540 --> 33:06.360 It was a 20 year effort with 33:07.640 --> 33:11.520 800,000 some soldiers rotating in 33:11.520 --> 33:14.950 and out to Afghanistan in particular . 33:14.950 --> 33:18.050 But remember at points in time there we 33:18.050 --> 33:21.780 had pretty intense combat going on in 33:21.780 --> 33:25.420 Iraq at that point in time or during 33:25.420 --> 33:28.780 those times . But I think that's over 33:28.790 --> 33:32.610 the all the service men and women did 33:32.610 --> 33:36.540 there their job . Well , just speaking 33:36.540 --> 33:39.340 for the army but goes for the other 33:39.340 --> 33:42.630 services also well trained soldiers 33:42.630 --> 33:45.660 with well trained leaders , Wolf 33:46.240 --> 33:47.907 always accomplish the mission 33:47.907 --> 33:50.800 accomplished each of their missions at 33:50.800 --> 33:53.850 the time in each battle as you know . 33:54.440 --> 33:58.100 Um And so and that were those were all 33:58.100 --> 34:00.200 waypoints leading up to the 20 years 34:01.770 --> 34:04.160 and now a political decision was made 34:04.160 --> 34:07.430 to end the conflict and and that's how 34:07.430 --> 34:09.652 we run our government . That's the best 34:09.652 --> 34:13.460 way to do it . All 34:13.460 --> 34:17.270 right , Miss Watson cbs . So I 34:17.270 --> 34:19.790 wonder if you said you could tell me 34:19.790 --> 34:21.790 when you learned it was a terrorist 34:21.790 --> 34:24.700 attack and what that and what that 34:24.710 --> 34:28.660 feeling brought . I guess I guess I can 34:28.660 --> 34:31.760 start . So , um 34:32.940 --> 34:35.160 I wasn't watching the T . V . I had a 34:35.160 --> 34:37.216 Tv in my office and there were three 34:37.216 --> 34:39.493 people in my office watching the T . V . 34:39.493 --> 34:41.660 With the World Trade Center . Uh huh . 34:42.920 --> 34:46.760 And after all the things I'd finally 34:46.760 --> 34:50.170 hit me when the pentagon 34:50.620 --> 34:52.820 police force forced us out of the 34:52.820 --> 34:55.070 building , they forced me out on 34:55.080 --> 34:57.550 through the E ring um 34:58.040 --> 35:00.800 onto where the plane had struck the 35:00.800 --> 35:04.760 building and you could see the debris 35:05.740 --> 35:08.840 because the plane terrible pilot . By 35:08.840 --> 35:12.500 the way The plane clipped a bunch of 35:12.500 --> 35:14.400 the big light poles , thereby uh 35:14.410 --> 35:17.630 interstate 29 and there was actually 35:17.640 --> 35:21.470 debris on the on the 35:21.480 --> 35:24.240 outside of the building there where the 35:24.240 --> 35:27.300 strike was . And at that point you it 35:27.300 --> 35:29.710 was pretty obvious what what really had 35:29.710 --> 35:31.760 happened . But before that while we 35:31.760 --> 35:35.610 were doing escape and evasion At 24 35:35.610 --> 35:37.554 years of service which I thought I 35:37.554 --> 35:40.950 would never do ever again . Uh huh 35:41.940 --> 35:44.300 And that was when I realized that 35:44.300 --> 35:45.467 that's what it was . 35:48.640 --> 35:51.360 Well I realized it eight days later 35:51.940 --> 35:54.200 because I was hospitalized and my 35:54.200 --> 35:55.978 question to my husband was what 35:55.978 --> 35:57.750 happened ? Um 36:01.230 --> 36:03.770 He didn't tell me , he said something 36:03.770 --> 36:05.770 happened in the pentagon . My first 36:05.770 --> 36:08.390 thought was we had just moved into this 36:08.390 --> 36:10.501 new area and there was a construction 36:10.501 --> 36:12.340 incident for accidents . 36:14.730 --> 36:16.897 So when I returned to the pentagon the 36:16.897 --> 36:19.300 G one had a large meeting over at the 36:19.300 --> 36:21.580 Hoffman building , the old Hoffman 36:21.580 --> 36:24.550 building . And that's when I was told 36:24.930 --> 36:26.960 that there was a terrorist attack . 36:28.830 --> 36:32.590 I was angry . I 36:32.590 --> 36:35.810 think I heard someone say have those 36:35.810 --> 36:38.620 people been in front of me ? It 36:38.620 --> 36:42.460 wouldn't have been very nice . Um 36:43.430 --> 36:45.660 I just wanted to hurt someone who would 36:45.670 --> 36:49.470 do this to us . That was my 36:49.470 --> 36:52.270 feeling and I think like most americans 36:52.270 --> 36:54.610 we wanted revenge . How would you come 36:54.610 --> 36:57.740 to our country and do this to the seat ? 36:58.430 --> 37:02.050 The pentagon . Yeah . 37:06.830 --> 37:10.690 Uh when I was sitting in my chair and I 37:10.690 --> 37:12.801 spun around and and the plane hit the 37:12.801 --> 37:14.857 building and there was all the chaos 37:14.857 --> 37:16.968 going on . Remember looking across to 37:16.968 --> 37:19.079 one of my colleagues and he looked at 37:19.079 --> 37:21.301 me and he only said one thing bin laden 37:21.430 --> 37:25.240 mhm and it was just that quick that 37:25.250 --> 37:27.417 they put two and two together and that 37:27.417 --> 37:29.306 was it . No we didn't have any to 37:29.306 --> 37:31.194 confirm it but that was the first 37:31.194 --> 37:34.090 reaction from him . You can threaten 37:34.090 --> 37:35.740 wow miss . 37:38.230 --> 37:42.160 I you know , I remember obviously I'm 37:42.530 --> 37:44.790 older than old left remembers , I 37:44.790 --> 37:47.500 remember it was this was at the time 37:47.510 --> 37:50.410 the gulf war had been over . The soviet 37:50.410 --> 37:54.280 union collapsed . We were um 37:54.290 --> 37:56.960 friends with everybody , seemingly . It 37:56.960 --> 37:58.904 was , you know , it was , it was a 37:58.904 --> 38:01.238 beautiful day , both in new york and Dc . 38:01.238 --> 38:03.404 Everyone . What what was it , what was 38:03.404 --> 38:05.840 it like ? Uhh free real 38:07.920 --> 38:11.680 just prior to you know the day , did 38:11.680 --> 38:13.847 you all think that for some of you who 38:13.847 --> 38:16.069 are seeing your field grade officers or 38:16.069 --> 38:18.236 you're looking at , okay , I'm gonna , 38:18.236 --> 38:20.236 you know , I'm gonna looking I'm at 38:20.236 --> 38:22.291 this sort of the the downward slot , 38:22.291 --> 38:24.291 you know , edge of my career in the 38:24.291 --> 38:26.291 military and I'm looking at my life 38:26.291 --> 38:28.347 afterwards and help to go fishing at 38:28.347 --> 38:30.402 some point or whatever . What was it 38:30.402 --> 38:32.458 like ? You know ? Well boys , you're 38:32.458 --> 38:34.750 sort of mindset immediately prior to 38:35.220 --> 38:37.220 new york , plenty of new york . And 38:37.220 --> 38:39.331 then obviously the plane hitting here 38:39.720 --> 38:41.664 when I came in the office that day 38:41.664 --> 38:44.080 early , Like I said , I've been out for 38:44.080 --> 38:46.700 a few days and I was in my 31st year of 38:46.710 --> 38:50.020 commission service then um Sergeant 38:50.020 --> 38:52.100 Major Strickland who who died in the 38:52.100 --> 38:54.440 attack was in my office and he was 38:54.440 --> 38:58.130 getting ready to retire . Yeah . And 38:58.140 --> 39:01.590 several major Strickland was there . He 39:01.590 --> 39:04.430 wanted wanted to know what I thought he 39:04.430 --> 39:08.140 should do when he retires . His wife 39:08.140 --> 39:10.251 was command Sergeant Major Strickland 39:10.251 --> 39:12.990 of Fort Belvoir at that time . Um And 39:12.990 --> 39:15.750 so we talked for a while and that's uh 39:15.760 --> 39:18.660 about about that what I was going to do 39:18.670 --> 39:22.150 after I retired . Um And 39:22.160 --> 39:25.980 that had a big effect for 39:25.980 --> 39:28.230 what came later on that night . I 39:28.230 --> 39:30.680 didn't get to unpack my briefcase 39:30.680 --> 39:32.847 because he was in my office and I left 39:32.847 --> 39:35.640 it on the desk there And 39:37.420 --> 39:40.720 uh and so after we had got done talking 39:40.750 --> 39:42.861 I walked with him as a matter of fact 39:42.861 --> 39:45.083 back down to joe mods office and that's 39:45.083 --> 39:47.028 why found out that his schedule is 39:47.028 --> 39:49.361 packed . Uh Sergeant Major stayed there . 39:49.361 --> 39:51.583 Of course I like I said I turned around 39:51.583 --> 39:54.160 headed back down quarter four but that 39:54.160 --> 39:57.590 briefcase you know office was filled 39:57.590 --> 39:59.646 with smoke everything back there got 39:59.646 --> 40:01.940 all singed and full of certain stuff 40:01.950 --> 40:04.910 but on my way out finally when we 40:04.920 --> 40:08.720 cleared quarter four I grabbed 40:08.720 --> 40:10.831 that briefcase that was sitting there 40:11.210 --> 40:13.377 as I passed through the office because 40:13.377 --> 40:15.599 that was the only way out is that for a 40:15.599 --> 40:17.321 fire door was shut inside that 40:17.321 --> 40:19.321 briefcase was the social roster for 40:19.321 --> 40:22.320 this paper that I always took one of 40:22.320 --> 40:24.480 his home because you know I get calls 40:24.480 --> 40:26.647 in the middle of the night for the set 40:26.647 --> 40:28.647 nothing . And so I grabbed that and 40:28.647 --> 40:30.758 then outside the building there where 40:30.758 --> 40:32.924 Roy was saying through the hole in the 40:32.924 --> 40:35.180 side of the building um people running 40:35.180 --> 40:37.460 over try to litter people into 40:37.460 --> 40:39.550 ambulances and stuff . I had that 40:39.550 --> 40:42.890 briefcase . I said it there . We lifted 40:42.890 --> 40:45.910 letters for a while and then I grabbed 40:45.920 --> 40:47.864 people running up the highways and 40:47.864 --> 40:50.890 everyone direction . I happened to find 40:50.900 --> 40:52.956 two or three people that work for me 40:52.956 --> 40:55.122 there in the operation section grabbed 40:55.122 --> 40:57.590 him not so fast fellas and we moved to 40:57.590 --> 40:59.960 the engineer trailers out in north 40:59.960 --> 41:01.849 parking . The engineers had their 41:01.849 --> 41:03.849 headquarters out there as they were 41:03.849 --> 41:06.670 renovation renovating building here and 41:06.670 --> 41:09.320 I had that roster and we started going 41:09.320 --> 41:11.487 down that thing . We knew Maryland had 41:11.487 --> 41:14.900 been taken to the hospital a couple 41:14.900 --> 41:18.320 others and we knew Approximately where 41:18.320 --> 41:20.376 people were and what they were doing 41:20.376 --> 41:23.960 during the day . So by 2:00 AM I called 41:23.960 --> 41:27.060 the vice chief of staff and and we had 41:27.060 --> 41:29.230 it down within two or three people 41:29.310 --> 41:32.320 accounted for . I could never done it 41:32.320 --> 41:34.930 without that roster on a briefcase 41:34.930 --> 41:37.120 there . You know an outside there I 41:37.120 --> 41:39.830 would say people were running up and 41:39.830 --> 41:41.997 down the freeway is just trying to get 41:41.997 --> 41:44.163 away . And the thing that jury brought 41:44.163 --> 41:45.941 up , you know , there's another 41:45.941 --> 41:47.719 airplane coming on . That rumor 41:47.719 --> 41:49.719 circulated a couple of times that I 41:49.719 --> 41:51.830 remember people uh you know , get out 41:51.830 --> 41:53.941 of here , another airplanes come in . 41:53.941 --> 41:56.163 But in the middle of that an f 16 , the 41:56.163 --> 41:58.108 U . S . Air Force F 16 made a pass 41:58.410 --> 42:00.577 reasonably low . Not real low but over 42:00.577 --> 42:03.280 the pentagon . So we said , hey it's 42:03.280 --> 42:06.380 over . We got disguise now . Um and so 42:06.380 --> 42:08.602 people really got about the business of 42:08.602 --> 42:10.713 evacuees , evacuating people . It's a 42:10.713 --> 42:13.050 daily reminder of where Roy's office 42:13.050 --> 42:15.010 and my office is right in there . 42:15.050 --> 42:17.161 That's where the plane came through . 42:17.161 --> 42:19.272 We sit there every day , that's where 42:19.272 --> 42:21.328 that airplane came through to answer 42:21.328 --> 42:23.550 your question . Like any corporation is 42:23.550 --> 42:26.110 normal day business doing normal 42:26.110 --> 42:28.170 business . And then when the planes 42:28.170 --> 42:30.281 struck , I know for senior folks like 42:30.281 --> 42:33.050 myself , 24 years of military training 42:33.060 --> 42:37.050 kicked in , get your people , get 42:37.050 --> 42:39.620 them out , make sure everybody's safe , 42:40.800 --> 42:44.260 go back in like Maryland 42:44.360 --> 42:48.280 screaming into the fire and the smoke 42:48.540 --> 42:52.180 this way is the way out . I didn't lose 42:52.180 --> 42:56.010 anybody from my section But the 42:56.020 --> 42:59.110 29 friends and comrades and mentors . 42:59.700 --> 43:03.570 Uh we're not in my section That day but 43:03.570 --> 43:05.750 it was normal business Pentagon is a 43:05.750 --> 43:07.806 huge 20,000 people come to work here 43:07.806 --> 43:11.670 every day , massive amount of policy 43:11.680 --> 43:14.280 and resourcing because this is not a 43:14.280 --> 43:16.150 combat headquarters , this is a 43:16.160 --> 43:19.520 resourcing headquarters . So corporate 43:19.900 --> 43:21.956 think corporate , that's what it was 43:21.956 --> 43:25.900 like before that Miss 43:25.900 --> 43:29.210 Wills . Yeah , sure for me as mr 43:29.210 --> 43:31.940 Wallace said , normal day , come to 43:31.940 --> 43:34.051 work , have a staff meeting after the 43:34.051 --> 43:36.273 staff meeting . You go straight to work 43:36.273 --> 43:39.440 doing the business of the day . Um had 43:39.440 --> 43:41.740 no thoughts of retirement just yet 43:41.750 --> 43:43.750 because I was a junior lieutenant 43:43.750 --> 43:46.460 colonel . Um So I continued to want to 43:46.460 --> 43:49.660 serve . Um my husband had already 43:49.660 --> 43:51.882 retired so he was there to take care of 43:51.882 --> 43:53.993 the girls and just a beautiful normal 43:53.993 --> 43:57.650 day coming to work at the pentagon dr 43:57.650 --> 43:59.900 Kitzhaber any . Yeah , like I said it 43:59.900 --> 44:02.067 was a beautiful day . Came in and went 44:02.067 --> 44:05.000 for a run down the Washington mall and 44:05.010 --> 44:07.700 being a growing up on a dairy farm in 44:07.700 --> 44:09.811 Wisconsin . I never envisioned myself 44:09.811 --> 44:11.922 being in Washington D . C . Let alone 44:11.922 --> 44:14.450 working here or in the pentagon . So I 44:14.450 --> 44:16.672 was just sort of enamored by the sights 44:16.672 --> 44:18.728 and the sounds of Washington D . C . 44:18.728 --> 44:20.617 That morning got to my office and 44:20.617 --> 44:22.839 another day as Roy said , you know it's 44:22.839 --> 44:24.783 a corporate headquarters . We were 44:24.783 --> 44:26.783 working policy , I was working with 44:26.783 --> 44:29.006 general Webster on some policy issues . 44:29.006 --> 44:31.061 Everything was normal Up until about 44:31.061 --> 44:33.520 9:00 . All right . Let's go to the 44:33.520 --> 44:35.576 phones now . We have several outlets 44:35.576 --> 44:37.798 waiting to ask their question . Will go 44:37.798 --> 44:39.853 to NBC Universal and Amanda Macias , 44:39.853 --> 44:42.131 are you on the line with us ? Hi there . 44:42.131 --> 44:44.353 Can you hear me ? Yes , we can hear you 44:44.353 --> 44:46.409 fine . What's your questions ? Thank 44:46.409 --> 44:48.576 you so much for telling your stories . 44:48.576 --> 44:50.798 I wanted to ask if you could talk about 44:50.798 --> 44:52.687 what it was like returning to the 44:52.687 --> 44:54.853 building post the attack and also have 44:54.853 --> 44:56.909 any of you had any family members to 44:56.909 --> 44:59.180 serve in the wars post 9 11 . Thanks so 44:59.180 --> 45:02.220 much . Well , I'll start 45:03.090 --> 45:06.300 So I'll take your last question 1st . 45:06.790 --> 45:10.720 Um , I'm an army brat And I don't 45:10.720 --> 45:12.942 know if you all know what that is , but 45:12.942 --> 45:15.109 that's that's a dependent of a service 45:15.109 --> 45:17.220 member . My dad spent 30 years in the 45:17.220 --> 45:20.690 army um army brats go one of two 45:20.690 --> 45:23.750 ways . There is no middle ground they 45:23.750 --> 45:26.860 either want to serve or they don't None 45:26.860 --> 45:30.810 of my three decided to serve . So 45:30.820 --> 45:34.600 um let's see . First part was 45:35.630 --> 45:37.963 you could just your first oh the return . 45:38.390 --> 45:41.210 So my office was in the C . Ring 45:41.690 --> 45:45.690 after they finished cleaning up 45:45.700 --> 45:48.300 the B . Ring I got moved back into the 45:48.310 --> 45:51.820 B . Ring . Um For those of you that 45:51.820 --> 45:54.810 know Washington D . C . From my office 45:54.810 --> 45:57.570 window I could see the li Custis 45:57.570 --> 46:00.410 mansion on the top of Arlington 46:00.410 --> 46:04.300 National Cemetery from the B . Ring 46:05.280 --> 46:07.730 Which is 2/3 of the way through the 46:07.730 --> 46:10.550 building because they had torn the 46:10.550 --> 46:13.600 building all the way down to its 46:13.610 --> 46:17.190 foundation that part of the wedge . And 46:17.190 --> 46:19.412 they built it back over the next year . 46:19.880 --> 46:22.102 A really amazing thing . I got to watch 46:22.102 --> 46:25.970 them rebuild it through my window . Um 46:25.980 --> 46:28.680 As those of you that know the are the 46:28.690 --> 46:31.910 pentagon is a national historical 46:32.280 --> 46:36.250 building . Everything must be the same 46:36.260 --> 46:38.620 as it was When it was built back in 46:38.620 --> 46:42.110 1940s . Um The exterior is 46:42.110 --> 46:45.300 limestone , it was quarried in indiana . 46:46.580 --> 46:48.691 The stone that sits on the outside of 46:48.691 --> 46:50.747 the new building . There is quarried 46:50.747 --> 46:53.490 from the same quarry from 19 forties . 46:54.280 --> 46:57.250 Uh They cut the stone . The new stone , 46:57.780 --> 46:59.790 it was smooth as a baby's behind if 46:59.790 --> 47:02.012 you've ever touched the outside of this 47:02.012 --> 47:04.012 building . You know it's rough as a 47:04.012 --> 47:06.068 corncob . So they actually went back 47:06.068 --> 47:08.980 into their uh facilities and they found 47:08.980 --> 47:12.660 some saw blades from the 1940s , and 47:12.660 --> 47:14.660 they put them on their machines and 47:14.660 --> 47:16.827 they cut the exterior of this building 47:17.080 --> 47:19.191 that you see today and it's real hard 47:19.191 --> 47:22.230 to see where the new starts and the old 47:22.240 --> 47:25.300 ends . Um the gutters are copper , 47:26.660 --> 47:28.716 they had to find copper smiths to do 47:28.716 --> 47:30.882 that . The roof is slate . They had to 47:30.882 --> 47:32.882 find someone that knew how to lay a 47:32.882 --> 47:34.980 massive slate roof but they built it 47:34.980 --> 47:37.630 back and the , and then a year later we 47:37.630 --> 47:41.150 had a celebration out there on that 47:41.150 --> 47:42.817 side of the building with the 47:42.817 --> 47:45.100 jumbotrons and everything else there . 47:45.480 --> 47:47.890 You may have seen pictures of that . 47:47.900 --> 47:50.540 But coming back in for me it wasn't 47:50.540 --> 47:52.970 hard but I can tell you for some of the 47:52.970 --> 47:56.790 people are security john Yates , our 47:56.790 --> 47:59.940 security manager um didn't come back 47:59.940 --> 48:02.080 for years . I had two ladies that 48:02.080 --> 48:04.350 worked for me that could not enter the 48:04.350 --> 48:07.290 building again . They couldn't cope 48:07.870 --> 48:10.840 with what had happened that day . So it 48:10.840 --> 48:14.790 was different for everybody based on 48:15.570 --> 48:18.420 your background and your experiences 48:19.570 --> 48:23.060 where is for me um haven't been 48:23.060 --> 48:26.090 hospitalized for a while . Um The army 48:26.090 --> 48:28.090 gave me several days off and I came 48:28.090 --> 48:31.730 back to work but I could only come back 48:31.740 --> 48:33.880 for half days when I initially came 48:33.880 --> 48:36.700 back when I came back . The worst thing 48:36.710 --> 48:40.100 of all was the smell , yep . Um You 48:40.100 --> 48:42.770 could smell the fumes , you could smell 48:42.770 --> 48:46.260 burning bodies , you could smell the 48:46.270 --> 48:48.520 burning wires , you could smell all of 48:48.520 --> 48:51.890 it . That was the worst for me . You 48:51.890 --> 48:54.001 would walk for me , I'd walk down the 48:54.001 --> 48:56.320 hallways and I would think that I saw a 48:56.320 --> 48:58.920 ghost because I knew I saw Marion , I 48:58.920 --> 49:01.390 knew I saw gentle mod , I knew I saw 49:01.390 --> 49:03.930 these people . So the psychological 49:03.930 --> 49:07.430 part of it was very difficult , but I 49:07.430 --> 49:10.650 knew I had to come back um because had 49:10.650 --> 49:12.970 I not come back , my life wouldn't be 49:12.970 --> 49:16.880 as it is today . Um It was difficult 49:16.890 --> 49:19.740 when I would go sit in the new 49:19.740 --> 49:22.280 general's office and they had opened up 49:22.280 --> 49:24.336 the flight plan to fly back over the 49:24.336 --> 49:26.450 pentagon again as I'm sitting in a 49:26.450 --> 49:28.640 meeting , I'm watching these planes go 49:28.640 --> 49:31.490 by . Just put that in your perspective , 49:31.970 --> 49:34.940 I couldn't sit there . So the general 49:34.950 --> 49:38.390 understood . General Lamont understood , 49:38.400 --> 49:40.530 but eventually I got there because I 49:40.530 --> 49:44.040 knew I had to continue to serve , did 49:44.040 --> 49:46.290 anyone in my family serve after that ? 49:47.070 --> 49:49.280 I'm like mr Wallace . No , my daughter 49:49.280 --> 49:52.360 said absolutely not . But I did have 49:52.360 --> 49:54.582 relatives and cousins who did go in and 49:54.582 --> 49:58.390 serve after 911 . Yeah . 49:58.770 --> 50:02.090 Dr Kitzhaber . Um We returned to the 50:02.090 --> 50:04.257 building a few days afterwards just to 50:04.257 --> 50:07.920 retrieve our belongings . Um One of the 50:07.920 --> 50:09.976 things that was still on my desk was 50:09.976 --> 50:12.142 the letter signed by general Kinzinger 50:12.142 --> 50:14.142 wishing me a happy birthday covered 50:14.142 --> 50:16.476 with soot and so I kept that till today . 50:16.476 --> 50:18.698 Um we retrieved everything , we could , 50:18.698 --> 50:20.587 they give us five minutes to grab 50:20.587 --> 50:22.698 everything you can and leave . And uh 50:22.698 --> 50:24.698 so we did and we were putting uh an 50:24.698 --> 50:26.698 office out in chantilly , we worked 50:26.698 --> 50:28.753 there until about christmas time and 50:28.753 --> 50:28.290 then they brought us back in the 50:28.300 --> 50:30.300 building and again we were on the B 50:30.300 --> 50:32.300 ring right above Roy where he could 50:32.300 --> 50:35.500 look out and see all the way up to the 50:35.500 --> 50:37.780 hill to Arlington . So 50:39.360 --> 50:41.450 that was my recollections of coming 50:41.450 --> 50:43.617 back to the building . I didn't have a 50:43.617 --> 50:45.839 problem coming back into the building . 50:45.839 --> 50:48.260 Um but you can't not think about it 50:48.270 --> 50:50.492 when you do come in the building , it's 50:50.492 --> 50:53.090 with you and it's always with you and 50:53.090 --> 50:56.780 it never leaves . Um other family 50:56.780 --> 50:58.724 members , I have a younger brother 50:58.724 --> 51:02.690 that's deployed twice . My cousin's son 51:02.690 --> 51:05.300 joined and deployed . Yeah , 51:05.310 --> 51:08.560 fortunately was a casualty to PTSD and 51:08.560 --> 51:12.420 TBI I after the fact Mr 51:12.420 --> 51:16.340 Lewis sir . Yeah , we could only 51:16.340 --> 51:18.451 come back for the next couple of days 51:18.451 --> 51:22.260 and there are those days In section one 51:22.260 --> 51:25.430 there wedge one because it was a crime 51:25.430 --> 51:27.690 scene and you had to be escorted in and 51:27.690 --> 51:30.910 out by the FBI or some representative 51:30.910 --> 51:33.550 there . Uh So as we try to get in and 51:33.550 --> 51:37.500 get some of our files and 51:37.500 --> 51:39.500 stuff because one of the remarkable 51:39.500 --> 51:41.722 things that happened right after that , 51:41.722 --> 51:44.190 we transitioned to war immediately 51:45.260 --> 51:48.910 and uh for the G one or for the 51:48.910 --> 51:51.560 desperate for then we relocated 51:51.560 --> 51:55.060 eventually down to the personnel center 51:55.060 --> 51:57.350 which was down in alexander was in 51:57.350 --> 51:59.930 alexandria and worked out of there for 51:59.930 --> 52:02.500 a while and then we re occupied 52:02.500 --> 52:05.000 different parts of the building a few 52:05.000 --> 52:07.770 months later , but the army didn't skip 52:07.770 --> 52:10.730 a beat their uh nor did any other part 52:10.730 --> 52:12.397 of D . O . D . It immediately 52:12.397 --> 52:14.563 transition to war . And so we got very 52:14.563 --> 52:17.020 busy doing that right after that of 52:17.020 --> 52:20.290 course , or commensurate with that . We 52:20.290 --> 52:22.457 had the anthrax scare going on here in 52:22.457 --> 52:25.020 town too . And that added 52:26.050 --> 52:29.130 quite a hype too to lots of things . 52:30.350 --> 52:34.060 I was I was not a personnel list like a 52:34.060 --> 52:36.460 lot of folks , I was a combat 52:36.460 --> 52:40.190 infantryman serving in G . one . Uh 52:40.200 --> 52:42.311 So I'd run into these things a couple 52:42.311 --> 52:44.089 of times . Both my parents were 52:44.089 --> 52:46.256 commissioned officers during World War 52:46.256 --> 52:48.200 Two . My mother was a regular army 52:48.200 --> 52:50.590 nurse , my dad was and the army Air 52:50.590 --> 52:54.200 Force both saw combat . So you know , I 52:54.210 --> 52:58.200 had my whole life with it . I would 52:58.200 --> 53:00.550 say I knew what they expect in that 53:00.550 --> 53:02.860 situation because like I said , who 53:02.860 --> 53:04.916 would think he'd get attacked in the 53:04.916 --> 53:08.170 United States of America . It wasn't uh 53:08.180 --> 53:11.600 working overseas or something , but 53:11.610 --> 53:13.670 coming back into the building was 53:14.250 --> 53:16.361 chaotic for us because we were spread 53:16.361 --> 53:18.560 out all over initially and then the 53:18.560 --> 53:20.671 President of United States that we're 53:20.671 --> 53:23.700 going to rebuild court Wedge one within 53:23.700 --> 53:26.630 a year , rebuild it . And as soon as 53:26.630 --> 53:29.710 that was built a relocated us right 53:29.720 --> 53:31.942 back into where we were , it's a little 53:31.942 --> 53:34.140 bit different configuration , but same 53:34.150 --> 53:36.094 same people , the manpower reserve 53:36.094 --> 53:38.500 affairs , uh Assistant secretary and 53:38.500 --> 53:41.670 the army G one people move back in 53:41.670 --> 53:43.892 there . Yeah , they did have some of us 53:43.892 --> 53:46.420 come in before we re occupied . Some of 53:46.420 --> 53:48.587 us had to come in and they picked some 53:48.587 --> 53:50.753 of us to go in . So they put us in the 53:50.753 --> 53:52.809 white suits with the respirators and 53:52.809 --> 53:54.698 all of that stuff when we went in 53:54.698 --> 53:56.476 basically to get out classified 53:56.476 --> 53:59.530 containers and things like that . I 53:59.530 --> 54:01.820 have a shadow box down here that's made 54:01.820 --> 54:04.290 from things from my office , the clock 54:04.290 --> 54:06.080 that's in there probably wasn't 54:06.080 --> 54:08.880 supposed to take it out , but I put it 54:08.880 --> 54:11.660 underneath my arm and took it out with 54:11.660 --> 54:15.070 me . It stopped 19 minutes after the 54:15.070 --> 54:17.237 plane struck the building . That's how 54:17.237 --> 54:19.840 long it took the heat of the flame to 54:19.840 --> 54:22.240 melt the crystal forever , freezing the 54:22.240 --> 54:25.900 hands in time . Let's go back to the 54:25.900 --> 54:28.260 telephone now . Haley , brisky task and 54:28.260 --> 54:30.427 purpose . What's your question today ? 54:31.240 --> 54:33.360 Hi , thank you and thank you all so 54:33.360 --> 54:35.638 much for doing this and for being here . 54:35.638 --> 54:38.220 Um you've , you've spoken a bit around 54:38.220 --> 54:40.553 this and I hope it's not too repetitive , 54:40.553 --> 54:42.776 but I'm wondering if you could um speak 54:42.776 --> 54:44.831 about , you know , the moment or the 54:44.831 --> 54:47.730 day maybe when you realized um or if 54:47.730 --> 54:49.897 you did realize that this was going to 54:49.897 --> 54:52.670 be um , you know , as as 54:53.040 --> 54:55.200 The gravity of the situation , I 54:55.200 --> 54:57.256 suppose . Um and you know , this has 54:57.256 --> 54:59.033 gone on for 20 years after what 54:59.033 --> 55:01.200 happened that day , I mean , was there 55:01.200 --> 55:03.422 a moment when you realize that this was 55:03.422 --> 55:05.589 going to be um you know , as big as an 55:05.589 --> 55:07.700 undertaking as it ended up being . Um 55:07.700 --> 55:09.840 or was that not something that you 55:09.840 --> 55:12.080 thought about ? Um thinking more in the 55:12.080 --> 55:14.302 immediate term ? I'm wondering if , and 55:14.302 --> 55:16.358 I guess an open question for whoever 55:16.358 --> 55:18.580 wanted to take that . Okay , well , let 55:18.580 --> 55:22.200 me start . Um I think the time that 55:22.210 --> 55:25.320 that it finally , that I grasped that 55:25.320 --> 55:27.560 this was going to be something that was 55:27.680 --> 55:31.220 going to take a while was when I 55:31.220 --> 55:33.053 finally realized that this was a 55:33.053 --> 55:36.910 different kind of war before all of our 55:36.910 --> 55:39.360 wars were fought against Nation States 55:40.040 --> 55:43.320 and , you know , and 55:43.620 --> 55:47.170 groups of Nation states , uh 55:47.540 --> 55:51.170 and you had an enemy that was readily 55:51.180 --> 55:54.690 defensible . The enemy that we've been 55:54.690 --> 55:56.850 fighting for the last 20 years 55:57.740 --> 56:00.980 disappears in a puff of smoke . It's an 56:00.980 --> 56:03.240 ideal , it's not a country . 56:04.630 --> 56:07.450 Um and it's a clash of ideals 56:08.230 --> 56:12.230 between the american beliefs and their 56:12.230 --> 56:16.230 beliefs . So when you're looking at 56:16.230 --> 56:18.452 and trying to fight something , you can 56:18.452 --> 56:20.508 nail Germany down and you can defeat 56:20.508 --> 56:24.480 Germany . Uh and that was at the point 56:24.480 --> 56:26.591 that I knew that this was going to be 56:26.591 --> 56:29.430 take us a while because the enemy just 56:29.430 --> 56:32.150 completely , you know , goes into the 56:32.150 --> 56:34.920 woodwork and comes out again , uh at 56:34.920 --> 56:35.960 another place . 56:38.830 --> 56:41.040 Mr Lewis , sir ? Yeah , 56:42.330 --> 56:44.170 our senior leaders came to that 56:44.170 --> 56:47.240 conclusion fairly quickly . 56:47.930 --> 56:51.910 Um , We had obviously 56:51.920 --> 56:55.530 29 in our section that had died , but 56:55.530 --> 56:57.040 in the pentagon there was 56:57.730 --> 57:01.340 70 100 804 , well with the 57:01.350 --> 57:03.572 airplane , airplane , airplane people . 57:04.030 --> 57:06.490 But for those of us in our , our 57:06.490 --> 57:10.000 sections , we the Chief of Staff at 57:10.000 --> 57:12.930 that time , joseph Seki and the 57:12.940 --> 57:14.940 secretary put out that there'd be a 57:14.940 --> 57:17.530 general officer and senior civilian at 57:17.530 --> 57:20.000 every one of the funerals . But when 57:20.000 --> 57:22.222 just the funerals , it was the memorial 57:22.222 --> 57:24.250 services , there were wakes , then 57:24.250 --> 57:26.450 there were church services and 57:26.830 --> 57:30.540 subsequent in ground burials . And we , 57:30.550 --> 57:33.790 so that that took most of the fall uh , 57:33.800 --> 57:35.578 to go through all that . We all 57:35.578 --> 57:38.280 participate in one of the funerals that 57:38.280 --> 57:40.340 I was at , the Chief of Staff was at 57:41.130 --> 57:43.010 and we were talking for a couple 57:43.010 --> 57:45.960 seconds either before or after the 57:46.730 --> 57:48.897 ceremony and he said , you know , it's 57:48.897 --> 57:51.640 going to go on for a long time . I 57:51.640 --> 57:53.751 didn't realize 20 years at that point 57:53.751 --> 57:55.751 in time , but a long time he said , 57:55.751 --> 57:59.310 this can be the long war uh , to get at 57:59.310 --> 58:01.150 this , that sticks with me . 58:03.020 --> 58:05.660 Okay , let's go back to the phones and 58:05.660 --> 58:07.970 rose Thayer from stars and stripes , 58:07.970 --> 58:10.810 are you on the line ? I am , yes , 58:10.810 --> 58:13.610 thank you so much for being willing to 58:13.610 --> 58:15.499 share these stories . I know it's 58:15.499 --> 58:17.443 really difficult . Um , I guess my 58:17.443 --> 58:19.277 question is a little bit forward 58:19.277 --> 58:21.499 looking . Um , I know we're on the 20th 58:21.499 --> 58:24.180 anniversary of 9 11 and every year 58:24.180 --> 58:26.347 there's , there's more and more adults 58:26.347 --> 58:29.470 in America that don't have the , the 58:29.480 --> 58:31.647 feeling are remembering of what it was 58:31.647 --> 58:34.530 like on that day to be in America . So 58:34.530 --> 58:38.090 what what is the message going forward 58:38.090 --> 58:40.330 and what is sort of the importance of 58:40.920 --> 58:44.040 remembering what happened that day ? Um 58:44.820 --> 58:46.876 for americans , like what's what's , 58:46.876 --> 58:48.870 what's the value and continuing to 58:48.870 --> 58:50.940 share these stories . 58:53.220 --> 58:55.442 I'll get you wanna start , I'll start , 58:55.442 --> 58:58.240 I'll start . Okay , so the , 58:59.290 --> 59:02.580 I go and speak two classes two years 59:02.580 --> 59:04.802 ago I spoke to what they call the first 59:04.802 --> 59:07.020 these which are the seniors at West 59:07.020 --> 59:09.980 Point . And the very first question I 59:09.980 --> 59:11.980 asked them was how many of you were 59:11.980 --> 59:15.740 alive On September the 11th and only 59:15.740 --> 59:18.240 five hands went up , They were prior 59:18.240 --> 59:21.400 service . And then I said , how many of 59:21.400 --> 59:23.678 you were still in diapers And you know , 59:23.678 --> 59:25.640 it put your hands down and all the 59:25.640 --> 59:28.110 hands went down . I've spoken to other 59:28.110 --> 59:31.550 high schools in the area about 9:11 and 59:31.550 --> 59:35.180 I think that um kind of 59:35.240 --> 59:37.450 maybe a contrite thing , but freedom 59:37.450 --> 59:41.230 isn't free is the message . And if you 59:41.230 --> 59:44.240 get recalcitrant , um , there's 59:44.240 --> 59:46.462 somebody out there that wants the blood 59:46.462 --> 59:49.110 of your nose . If you look at places 59:49.110 --> 59:50.999 like Pearl Harbor , I mean , Mark 59:50.999 --> 59:54.250 mentioned several of them . Um If you 59:54.250 --> 59:56.250 don't , if you weren't a student of 59:56.250 --> 59:58.528 history , there's a wise man that said , 59:58.528 --> 01:00:00.750 you're doomed to repeat it . So keeping 01:00:00.750 --> 01:00:03.240 at least the message . But I think the 01:00:03.240 --> 01:00:05.240 real message is the resilience that 01:00:05.240 --> 01:00:07.540 came out of it and not the actual act 01:00:07.540 --> 01:00:10.850 itself . The acts , the three acts 01:00:11.310 --> 01:00:13.620 itself . It's the resilience of the 01:00:13.620 --> 01:00:16.590 american public . Every single 01:00:17.210 --> 01:00:21.210 overpass in this city had an american 01:00:21.220 --> 01:00:24.680 flag hanging from it for 01:00:24.690 --> 01:00:28.670 months after 9 11 . And that 01:00:28.670 --> 01:00:30.781 was the way all across the nation . I 01:00:30.781 --> 01:00:32.726 went to talk to in the hometown in 01:00:32.726 --> 01:00:35.940 texas to the high school there american 01:00:35.940 --> 01:00:39.230 flags everywhere . It was a galvanizing 01:00:39.230 --> 01:00:42.740 event that happened and a lot of 01:00:42.750 --> 01:00:45.530 good things came out of it in the end . 01:00:45.910 --> 01:00:47.900 I think that's the message . The 01:00:47.900 --> 01:00:49.930 resiliency of the american people 01:00:49.930 --> 01:00:53.530 themselves and the 01:00:54.710 --> 01:00:56.932 and they that we shouldn't forget these 01:00:56.932 --> 01:01:00.570 type of things . Dr 01:01:00.570 --> 01:01:03.200 Kitzhaber , you had a thought I guess I 01:01:03.200 --> 01:01:05.422 would echo what he said . You know , we 01:01:05.422 --> 01:01:07.589 don't study history , were destined to 01:01:07.589 --> 01:01:09.478 repeat it . And I think it's just 01:01:09.478 --> 01:01:11.422 important that were assembled here 01:01:11.422 --> 01:01:15.180 today to remember those who didn't 01:01:15.180 --> 01:01:18.880 survive because we owe it to them to 01:01:18.890 --> 01:01:22.360 educate the rest of America as to what 01:01:22.360 --> 01:01:24.582 can happen when you become complacent . 01:01:26.410 --> 01:01:28.700 And like I said , freedom isn't free . 01:01:28.710 --> 01:01:32.560 We have to guarded every day and 01:01:32.560 --> 01:01:34.640 watch for areas that were missing . 01:01:37.010 --> 01:01:39.400 Well said W . T . O . P . Are you on 01:01:39.400 --> 01:01:40.900 the line with a question ? 01:01:43.310 --> 01:01:47.180 I'll take that as a no . All right . We 01:01:47.180 --> 01:01:49.291 have just a couple of minutes for one 01:01:49.291 --> 01:01:51.458 final question . Anyone in the room or 01:01:51.458 --> 01:01:53.013 on the phone . It's yours . 01:01:56.110 --> 01:01:58.332 All right . Thank you all very much . I 01:01:58.332 --> 01:02:00.443 want to thank our panelists today for 01:02:00.443 --> 01:02:02.221 sharing their stories with us . 01:02:02.221 --> 01:02:04.388 Impactful , meaningful and again , the 01:02:04.388 --> 01:02:06.554 goal today really just to continue the 01:02:06.554 --> 01:02:08.890 education of the american public , of 01:02:08.900 --> 01:02:11.180 the importance of service sacrifice . 01:02:11.180 --> 01:02:13.402 Freedom isn't free . And that's what we 01:02:13.402 --> 01:02:15.291 all stand here for . Anyone who's 01:02:15.291 --> 01:02:17.291 raised their right hand and uttered 01:02:17.291 --> 01:02:19.500 that oath . That is what we stand for 01:02:19.520 --> 01:02:21.687 and what the american public , we hope 01:02:21.687 --> 01:02:24.070 understands about us and the importance 01:02:24.070 --> 01:02:26.450 of it as we observe the 20th 01:02:26.450 --> 01:02:28.350 anniversary of 9 11 here at the 01:02:28.350 --> 01:02:30.406 pentagon . Thank you all so much for 01:02:30.406 --> 01:02:32.517 tuning in . Thank you all so much for 01:02:32.517 --> 01:02:35.440 attending . Yeah .