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 Coping
with the 9.11.01 Aftermath
Accounts of Survivors
Eyewitness Account of Pentagon Attack
By: Terry Morin
An eye-witness account of the aircraft impact into the pentagon and
subsequent rescue efforts...written by a former USMC aviator working as a
contractor at the BMDO offices at the old Navy Annex.
Friends, Family, and Fellow Americans,
As many of you know, two SPARTANs were in locations on
Tuesday to witness the attack on the Pentagon.
Many people have asked me to share the events of that day.
So, while fresh, here are my memories of that fateful day.
The Attack
I had just reached the elevator in the 5th Wing of BMDO/Federal
Office Building (FOB) #2 – call it approximately 9:36 AM. I was already trying to make some sense out of the World
Trade Tower attacks having heard about them on the radio. The news was sketchy, but the fact that it was a terrorist
attack was already known. I then
realized that I was wearing sunglasses and needed to go back to Lot 3 to
retrieve my clear lenses. Since it
was by no means a short walk to my car, I was upset with myself for being so
distracted. Approximately 10 steps
out from between Wings 4 and 5, I was making a gentle right turn towards the
security check-in building just above Wing 4 when I became aware of something
unusual. I can’t remember exactly
what I was thinking about at that moment, but I started to hear an increasingly
loud rumbling behind me and to my left. As
I turned to my left, I immediately realized the noise was bouncing off the
4-story structure that was Wing 5. One
to two seconds later the airliner came into my field of view.
By that time the noise was absolutely deafening. I instantly had a very
bad feeling about this but things were happening very quickly.
The aircraft was essentially right over the top of me and the outer
portion of the FOB (flight path parallel the outer edge of the FOB). Everything
was shaking and vibrating, including the ground.
I estimate that the aircraft was no more than 100 feet above me (30 to 50
feet above the FOB) in a slight nose down attitude.
The plane had a silver body with red and blue stripes down the fuselage.
I believed at the time that it belonged to American Airlines, but I couldn’t
be sure. It looked like a 737 and I so reported to authorities.
Within seconds the plane cleared the 8th Wing of BMDO and was
heading directly towards the Pentagon. Engines
were at a steady high-pitched whine, indicating to me that the throttles were
steady and full. I estimated the
aircraft speed at between 350 and 400 knots.
The flight path appeared to be deliberate, smooth, and controlled.
As the aircraft approached the Pentagon, I saw a minor flash (later found
out that the aircraft had sheared off a portion of a highway light pole down on
Hwy 110). As the aircraft flew ever
lower I started to lose sight of the actual airframe as a row of trees to the
Northeast of the FOB blocked my view. I
could now only see the tail of the aircraft.
I believe I saw the tail dip slightly to the right indicating a minor
turn in that direction. The tail
was barely visible when I saw the flash and subsequent fireball rise
approximately 200 feet above the Pentagon.
There was a large explosion noise and the low frequency sound echo that
comes with this type of sound. Associated
with that was the increase in air pressure, momentarily, like a small gust of
wind. For those formerly in the military, it sounded like a 2000lb
bomb going off roughly ½ mile in front of you.
At once there was a huge cloud of black smoke that rose several hundred
feet up. Elapsed time from hearing
the initial noise to when I saw the impact flash was between 12 and 15 seconds.
The Reaction
Many of the FOB people had been looking at the news reports flowing out of
the attack on the World Trade Center Towers, going about their normal work
routine as they watched. Maybe half or a bit more already knew of the New York
attacks. However, within seconds of
the impact -- less than a minute after the FOB flyover -- several thousand
people started exiting the FOB. People
poured through the vehicle security checkpoint, crossing Columbia Pike into the
FOB parking lot. As people were
leaving the building in a very rapid manner, emergency vehicles, police, fire
engines and ambulances were racing to the scene. They began arriving within 3 to
5 minutes of the impact. Several
military officers were standing in the middle of Columbia Pike, essentially
directing traffic and holding the pedestrians back so that emergency vehicles
could get through. The looks on their faces were somewhere between shock,
terror, horror, and confusion. Many
were crying. Many were stunned. Some were yelling to clear the area, move away from the
buildings. Concern was that we
might be the next target. Some were
indicating that people should go home, but most just stared in silence at the
burning West Wing of the Pentagon. Some cars were leaving the compound as well
as the parking lot, but very few. Many tried to make phone calls to family or to
home offices to say they were safe, but within minutes of the attack the sheer
volume of traffic clobbered cell phones and other lines of communication.
Those that got through needed patience and persistence.
As groups of friends and co-workers gathered to look on, immediate
declarations of anger, frustration, dismay came out. We stood in the parking lot
for approximately 15 minutes when a call came out for help.
What must have been a hundred people moved in the direction of the
Pentagon together and without hesitation. I saw Vicki Aardema, Chris Avvisato,
John Schessler, and former SPARTAN Jen Metzler all walking down to the scene.
As we got closer and crossed over the now empty roads, the devastation
could be seen through the smoke and flames.
It was just unbelievable. The
police started to turn people away from the site. FBI agents were already there
and had declared the whole area a crime scene.
Declaring a crime scene prevents people from getting in that are not
police, fire or medical type personnel. I
was allowed to proceed because I witnessed the event.
Ultimately, I believe that only Jen Metzler and myself made it to the
scene, but I didn’t run into her for the rest of the day.
Rescue and Recovery
After I shared a couple of things that I had seen to a local law enforcement
official -- what I will call a perimeter policeman -- he hustled me off to an
FBI agent named Mike. He took what
I would call a ¾ statement, then told me to go to the Command Post (CP) and
wait. Someone else would want to discuss what I saw.
At that point I met a young African American who was standing next to
Mike, the FBI agent. He had streaks
of blood on his T-shirt and was wearing bandages on both arms. Apparently he had been standing in the Control Tower for the
Helo Pad that was approximately 200 feet to the North of the actual impact
point. He still looked as though he
was in shock, but indicated that he had witnessed the impact. I then confirmed that the aircraft had been flown directly
into the Pentagon without hitting the ground first or skipping into the
building. As he and I were walking
in the direction of the CP, medical supplies started to arrive.
A van pulled up and they asked for volunteers to unload.
Items in the van seemed to have been loaded very hurriedly: individual
packs of 4x4 gauze, irrigation fluid, IV and oxygen equipment, wooden
stretchers. Medical folks were
trying to get a handle on it. Get
the stuff out and get it organized. Nurses
were cracking the organizational whip: IV stuff here, fluid there, get those
litters out of the way. About that
time, we got the first of 4 or 5 calls to take cover.
Reports had been received of other aircraft coming in for what could be a
subsequent attack. At about the same time the upper floors on the Pentagon caved
in and collapsed. I didn’t see
it, but many in the crowd acknowledged the event.
We picked up the supplies and moved them under a
concrete overpass with a small tunnel of about 100 feet or so of coverage.
I saw a couple of injured folks, but they appeared to be in good hands
– injuries did not seem from a distance to be life threatening.
After a couple of the follow-on attack scares, many of us were formed up
into 4-man stretcher teams. Approximately 30 teams were formed.
We were moved up to the scene and given rubber gloves. We were taken in
several directions, but finally landed about 300 feet west of the Helo Pad out
on Hwy 110. They had set up the
medical people under the trees, putting the three levels of care in a line.
Dead and dying were on the North end, triage and serious in the middle,
walking wounded on the South end. Doctors,
Nurses, Paramedics, Flight Surgeons, EMT’s – every brand of medical
professional – were everywhere. Hwy 110 became a staging point for ambulances,
and police vehicles. Fire trucks had already been moved into position to fight the
fires that were proceeding to the left, right, and into the center of the
Pentagon. Every time we moved up to
try and take people out, the fires would flare-up making it impossible to put
non-professionals with no equipment into the building.
That said, there were not enough firemen to simultaneously fight the fire
and do stretcher duty, so they asked us to hang tight.
After about three hours, the officials started to
become concerned about the volunteers. It
was hot and most of us had been standing or working in the sun for the entire
time. That’s when an unbelievable
amount of supplies started to show up. Gallon
water jugs, bottled water, Gatorade, soda, snacks -- you name it and it was
there. The volunteers started to
unload and stage the supplies. Several
of us started to build a forward water station for the firemen.
Only a few of the bottles were cold, so ice was being brought in to help
that situation. We used cardboard
boxes to hold the drinks and the ice as best we could, there being no large
coolers available. Three of us started carrying the cold water bottles and
snacks down to the firefighters that were staged in small teams. We were
actually inside the crime scene area (because of all the pieces of the aircraft
and building lying on the ground). The
firemen were appreciative, as the heat inside the building generated from the
8,500 gallons of jet fuel was, in their words, “unbelievable.”
It was reported that at least three of the fireman had to be given IV
fluids due to the extreme heat. After about 20 minutes a local policeman came
over and made us vacate the water station (inside the crime scene designated
area) because it was obvious that we weren’t law enforcement.
For the next three hours we waited to be called up
to help bring people out. At about
3PM, we were formed into 12 man teams, reissued gloves and masks, and briefed by
authorities on how to do the job. At
this point, we were going to enter the Pentagon, but not too far.
Because the fire was still burning, the structure was not safe for deeper
penetration by non-professionals. The
idea was that the firemen would bring the bodies to us and we would carry them
out. Within 15 minutes of that
briefing, a 3-Star Army Lt General gathered us up.
He announced that the Old Guard from Ft Myer was being brought in to
replace us within 3 hours. The 12 man litter teams continued to wait in place until the
Old Guard arrived.
The People
The mood was somber and filled with frustration, anger, and shock.
People wanted to get inside to help those injured or trapped.
Those immediately outside the Pentagon were not being told of the scene
inside, so there was some perceived jerking around going on.
It wasn’t until later that it all fell into place. In the moments where
the action slowed, discussions revolved around who was where, what they were
doing, and what they saw. I heard a
lot of questions: Who was in the office spaces?
How many people on the aircraft? What
type of plane? Was it an airliner?
Do we know or have any word on the dead or injured?
How did the aircraft hit? Did
it fly in or did it hit the ground first? A
thousand more questions waited.
I met some real Americans that day. The
following are just a few of the people that I met and short stories about them.
No last names:
Chris:
He was one of my many litter partners.
A young Army SSgt who is the Chef for the Army Chief of Staff.
At one point, when we didn’t have masks to wear, he took off his
T-shirt and proceeded to tear it up so we could be a little safer.
Christina:
She works in Air Force Intel. She
was my water station partner. Energetic,
just wanted to be a part of the solution. Carried
full boxes of water and ice, as well as snacks to the firemen.
She also jumped in to organize the snacks so the firemen and the medical
people could find what they wanted.
Larry:
Air Force 2 Star General. Was
the senior officer present on the scene for the Air Force.
Larry was coordinating people counts and Air Force volunteer actions on
the ground. He was taking several
reports and discussing what people had seen and heard.
For most of the day, he stood with most of us as a litter team member.
Later that evening, I gave him a ride home since the Metro was not
stopping at the Pentagon.
The
Marine Colonel: As we were
standing there in the hot sun, a Marine Colonel had stepped into line to serve
as a litter team member. He was
wearing Alpha’s with a barracks cover. That
means he was dressed up in the green coat with all of his decorations.
As he stepped into line, he very carefully took off his coat and cover
(hat) and laid it on the concrete median there on Hwy 110.
He then took off his tie and rolled up his sleeves.
The entire time I was around him, off and on, I didn’t hear him speak a
word. Other young Marine Officers
were standing around him, giving him reports on what they knew and had heard.
The thing that struck me the most was the look on his face.
“Resolve” is the word that comes to mind.
Calm, Focused Resolve.
Ken:
A retired Army Officer who is now serving as part of the Army Personnel
Office. He was knocked to the floor
in the impact/explosion. The smoke was so thick he had to crawl a ways in his escape.
His section was the most heavily hit.
He lost several friends and co-workers.
Ken was there the entire day, despite his own ordeal.
I also dropped him off at his car that night.
Reggy:
He is an Army Major. He was
my partner for going into the Pentagon. One
goes down, your partner brings you out. I
fear he had the worse end of that deal.
Sgt
Maj: From the Army, he was
coordinating the 12 man litter teams. When
he got to me, he said, “Sir, are you sure you’re up to this.”
I told him I was and gave him a quick “Arugha.”
He smiled and we pressed on.
An
Army 2 Star General and An Army 1 Star General: In our 3rd or
4th run for cover due to possible follow-on attacks, my Company
picked up the bill for a couple of minutes on my cell phone.
These gents had not yet got local phone calls out to their wives yet to
let them know they were alive. There
were also a couple of more calls for them to report to the ops centers.
It turned out that the 1 Star was the son of a Four Star Army General
that I had served with in Korea in 1985 and 1986.
3
Star Army General: Grayed
hair gentleman that would have qualified as a southern gentleman by the way he
carried himself. He spoke in a
forceful, clear, and compassionate manner.
He appeared to be the on-scene commander. He moved about taking reports and apparently directing the
military and volunteer actions there on scene.
His last words to us after announcing that the Old Guard would relieve us
were, “thank you all for being here, and God Bless each of you.”
There were 3 Flag Rank Officers, several O-6’s from all the services, and a
multitude of others (civilians, contractors, and others) that made up the
volunteer ranks. No one argued.
Everyone did whatever was asked without a second thought.
There must have been 30 Chaplains and men of the cloth (not just
military) there. Every now and then
one would be called up for help, but they too were put into a group so they
could respond to the individuals or bodies being brought out.
In addition to that, I saw several mingling with the entire team,
medical, volunteers, and others, ministering to the pain and shock that was
there. Civilian nurses, paramedics,
and other medical personnel showed up with logos from several of the local
hospitals. Some of the woman nurses
were older, but you should have seen how they got up and over the concrete
Highway barriers with full dresses and skirts on, sometimes on their own,
sometimes with assistance. Teamwork
was everywhere.
Summary
I’m not sure how to end this, because there is no ending yet.
I don’t have any patriotic soundbyte, just a deep love for our country.
Only now am I beginning to fully realize what I saw and experienced.
Words like “surreal,” “shock,” “disbelief,”
“frustration,” and “anger” comes to mind, but I don’t yet have a
dominant, overwhelming feeling. Like
many of you, my anger quotient is heading to overload.
I don’t know or understand the lesson that we were supposed to have
learned. I’m not sure I’ll ever
understand.
Closer to home (Fredericksburg), we lost two people. One female
government employee who is a neighbor and another father who worked in the
Pentagon. His daughter goes to
school with my sons Mike and Sean. That
said, I know that as horrible as it was at the Pentagon, it does not come close
to the magnitude of horror, destruction, and death that was experienced in New
York. Regarding Pennsylvania, I can
only say as a former Marine Aviator, who served on a couple of accident boards,
aircraft accidents are never good, but thank God for their heroism.
I still have more questions than answers.
I love that our country has come together. I’m sorry that it took this to do it. Thanks to all of you who contributed your sweat on that day,
to all of you who gave blood, to all who responded to relief drives, to all
those who called us in Washington to ask after our welfare. Thanks for caring. Hug
the ones you love. Be there for
each other and God Bless America.
Terry Morin
September 2001
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