- Joined
- Sep 27, 2008
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My last two pins, image below. I have exchanged pins with other survivors and first responders at various 9/11 remembrance ceremonies over the 20+ years since.
0937. The Pentagon, E-Ring, Director Navy Staff’s office close to the “point” where the corridor turned to the adjacent face, where impact occurred. We were watching the newscast on overhead screens. We heard the massive boom, the building shook, we ran out and looked around the point, smelled the av gas (smelled weirdly familiar, and later it made sense) and saw a roiling black cloud coming fast down the corridor. It was go-go-go after that, with no idea what happened. Once I made it outside, there was the gaping hole in flames, spreading, but no sign of a plane. Disintegrated. And the horror of seeing how far in the destruction went, and the people there who had no idea what hit them. We had about a minute to think about that, and then military people were heading back in to help get people out who were trapped in impact areas. No first responders on the scene yet. Navy senior officers, surface warfare, submarines and aviation, were running the scene, as damage control measures in fire/fuel emergencies are part and parcel of naval officer training, and training and discipline took over. First responders arrived soon after and relieved us. Military folks had already set up triage areas. Navy chaplains were in a meeting at the Naval Military Personnel Command at the nearby old Navy Annex, and literally ran down the hill and did what they do without peer.
0937. The Pentagon, E-Ring, Director Navy Staff’s office close to the “point” where the corridor turned to the adjacent face, where impact occurred. We were watching the newscast on overhead screens. We heard the massive boom, the building shook, we ran out and looked around the point, smelled the av gas (smelled weirdly familiar, and later it made sense) and saw a roiling black cloud coming fast down the corridor. It was go-go-go after that, with no idea what happened. Once I made it outside, there was the gaping hole in flames, spreading, but no sign of a plane. Disintegrated. And the horror of seeing how far in the destruction went, and the people there who had no idea what hit them. We had about a minute to think about that, and then military people were heading back in to help get people out who were trapped in impact areas. No first responders on the scene yet. Navy senior officers, surface warfare, submarines and aviation, were running the scene, as damage control measures in fire/fuel emergencies are part and parcel of naval officer training, and training and discipline took over. First responders arrived soon after and relieved us. Military folks had already set up triage areas. Navy chaplains were in a meeting at the Naval Military Personnel Command at the nearby old Navy Annex, and literally ran down the hill and did what they do without peer.
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