The Pentagon: A History (83 page)

Nearby, confusion reigned
Ted Anderson, author interview, 23 July 2002; Karen Baker, e-mail to author, 19 Aug. 2002; Michael E. Ruane, Steve Vogel, Manny Fernandez, Patricia Davis, and Avis Thomas-Lester, “Inch by Inch,”
WP,
8 Sept.2002.

Two women had jumped
Anderson, author interview; Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11.”

Reentering the door
Anderson, author interview.

Anderson and Braman carried
Ibid.;
Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11” James Schwartz, author interview, 15 Mar. 2006; Ruane et al, “Inch by Inch.”

I’m alive

Colonel Phil McNair felt
McNair, author interview; Rossow,
Uncommon Strength,
39–45; Glatz, author interview; Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11.”

Unlike Ted Anderson
McNair, author interview; Nancy McNair, author interview, August 2002.

McNair heard a voice
McNair, author interview; Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11” Rossow,
Uncommon Strength,
45.

On the first floor, the DIA
Gonzales, author interview; Vogel, “Survivors Healed, but Not Whole.”

In the adjacent Navy
Shaeffer, “My Ring Story” Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11.”

It was just a smoking, burning mess

Rumsfeld had been in the midst
Rumsfeld, author interview.

Hundreds of employees
Payam Zeraat, interview with Margaret Roth, 22 May 2002; Wallace, Roth interview;
WP,
12 Sept. 2001; Rumsfeld, author interview; Charles Fowler, author interview, 11 Sept. 2001.

Rumsfeld was stunned
Rumsfeld, author interview.

Rumsfeld’s instinctive rush
David Von Drehle, “Wrestling With History,”
WP,
13 Nov. 2005;
The 9/11 Commission: Proceedings and Analysis, Book 4,
564;
The 9/11 Commission Report,
43–4.

At 10:15
A.M.
, Rumsfeld walked
Torie Clarke,
Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game,
221.

Fifteen minutes later
The 9/11 Commission Report,
43–4, 37–38; DoD news briefing, 12 Sept. 2001; Rumsfeld, author interview.

As Rumsfeld conferred
The 9/11 Commission Report,
44, William J. Haynes, OSD interview, 8 Apr. 2003, OSD HO; Wolfowitz, OSD interview; Rumsfeld, OSD interview, 23 Dec. 2002, OSD HO; Rumsfeld, author interview.

That’s when I saw real fear

The first Arlington County
Arlington County, “After-Action Report on the Response to the September 11 Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon,” 2002, A-8-10 (hereafter Arlington AAR); Mike Smith, interview with Margaret Roth, 2002.

Outside, Arlington County Fire Captain
Arlington AAR, A-66; Schwartz, author interview; Alfred Goldberg, Sarandis Papadopoulos, Diane Putney, Nancy Berlage and Rebecca Welch,
Pentagon 9/11,
Washington D.C.: Office of the Secretary of Defense, Historical Office, 2007, 19; Smith, Roth interview; Capt. Jim McKay, interview with Margaret Roth, 2002; ASCE
Building Performance Report,
13; Anderson, author interview.

Fifteen minutes after rescue
Arlington AAR, C-46, I-10;
WP,
12 Sept. 2001; Jester, author interview.

The plane is five minutes out

Inside the Pentagon
Carter, author interview; John Irby, DoD news briefing, 14 Sept. 2001.

Let me know in case I picked the wrong side

Colonel Phil McNair made it
McNair, author interview; Rossow,
Uncommon Strength,
60–1; Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11.”

Some three hundred employees and rescue
Arlington AAR, B-4; Gonzales, author interview.

McNair saw doctors
McNair, author interview; Swift, “Inside the Pentagon on 9/11.”

Steve Carter, reaching
Carter, author interview.

I guess that will be us doing the shooting

At Andrews Air Force Base
David F. Wherley, Jr., author interview, 2 Apr. 2002; Steve Vogel, “Flights of Vigilance Over the Capital,”
WP,
8 Apr. 2002.

Wherley called the Secret Service
Ibid.; The 9/11 Commission Report,
44. Wherley, author interview.

Three of the squadron’s
Marc Sasseville, author interview, 29 Mar. 2002; Vogel, “Flights of Vigilance Over the Capital” Heather Penney, author interview, 29 Mar. 2002; Wherley, author interview.

Well, a little too late

In the Pentagon courtyard
Carter, author interview; Bruce Hackert, interview with Margaret Roth, 22 May 2002.

United Airlines Flight 93
The 9/11 Commission Report,
33, 41; Arlington AAR, C-46.

At 10:38
A.M.
Arlington AAR, appendix 1, A-31; Schwartz, author interview.

The evacuation
The 9/11 Commission Report,
31, 41.

“We are sure”
Ibid.,
45

Tell me exactly where it hit

Lee Evey pulled
Evey, author interview, 2002; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

From a purely analytical
Evey, author interview, 21 Sept. 2001; Steve Vogel, “New Pentagon Pays Off,”
WP,
23 Sept. 2001; Evey, DoD news briefing, 15 Sept. 2001;
The Renovator,
Jan/Feb. 2002; McKay, Roth interview.

The plane struck
ASCE
Building Performance Report,
24–26;
ENR,
24 Sept. 2001; Probst, author interview; Leo J. Titus, Jr., “A Review of the Temporary Shoring Used to Stabilize the Pentagon After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11th, 2001,” 9–10.

All the command centers
PENREN, “Incident Impact, Program Challenges, Required Decisions,” Dec. 2001, Evey papers.

“It really hurt”
Downey, author interview.

Most remarkably, the plane
Evey, author interview, 2001; Vogel, “New Pentagon Pays Off” Evey briefing, 15 Sept. 2001, DoD; Glatz, author interview.

I’m not running anymore

The plane’s path
McNair, author interview; Gonzales, author interview; Shaeffer, “My Ring Story.”

They had made it out
Smith, Roth interview; Schwartz, author interview.

It was unlike any fire
Ibid.;
Smith, Roth interview; ASCE
Building Performance Report,
42–3; James Glanz and Eric Lipton,
City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center,
253; DoD news briefing, 12 Sept. 2002; Arlington AAR, A-16.

Those watching the scene
Ibid.,
A-8; Smith, Roth interview.

The five-story collapse zone
Larry Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations at The Pentagon 9-11 Attack: A Case Study on Urban Search and Rescue Disaster Response,” 6; Smith, Roth interview.

At 2
P.M.
the evacuation
Arlington AAR, A-30, appendix 1; Smith, Roth interview; Schwartz, author interview; Mike Baker, interview with Margaret Roth, 22 May 2002.

After the all-clear
Smith, Roth interview.

rescuers were not finding anybody
Schwartz, author interview; Titus, “A Review of the Temporary Shoring,” 7–8; Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations,” 10–11;
Newsweek,
27 Sept. 2001.

Out front, Lieutenant Colonel Ted Anderson
Anderson, author interview; Ruane et al, “Inch by Inch” FBI evidence report, “Pentagon—First Floor West.”

They would have won

Inside the National Military
Rumsfeld, author interview; Rumsfeld, OSD interview; Schwartz, author interview; Wolfowitz, OSD interview; Bob Woodward,
Bush at War,
25.

Rumsfeld decided
Rumsfeld, author interview.

Fire commanders decided
Schwartz, author interview; Anderson, author interview; Carter, author interview; Clarke,
Lipstick on a Pig,
222–3.

Despite the problems, Rumsfeld
Rumsfeld, author interview; author’s notes, DoD news briefing, 11 Sept. 2001; Clarke,
Lipstick on a Pig,
229–31.

Schwartz was astonished
Schwartz, author interview; Arlington AAR, A-65; Carter, author interview.

Nobody left

Lee Evey had driven
Evey, author interview, 2002; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

In Evey’s absence
Michael Sullivan, daily log of activities, 11 Sept. 2001, Evey papers; Sullivan, OSD interview, 18 Oct. 2001, OSD HO;
Government Executive,
May 2002; Evey, “Failure No Option at Pentagon,” 1 Sept. 2002,
Building Design and Construction;
Evey briefing, 15 Sept. 2001, DoD; Hunkele, author interview.

When the call came
Kilsheimer, author interview; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed” Hunkele, author interview.

Evey had never heard
Evey, author interview, 2002; Kilsheimer, author interview; Titus, “A Review of the Temporary Shoring,” 27.

Kilsheimer met
Kilsheimer, author interview; Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, remarks at Phoenix Project reunion, 11 Sept. 2006; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed” Strock, CEHO interviews, Sept.–Oct. 2002, CEHO.

That night, Evey addressed
Building Design and Construction,
1 July 2002; Evey, author interview, 2005.

The Pentagon had held

The orange glow
Anderson, author interview; author’s notes from scene, 11 and 12 Sept. 2001.

Some ten thousand workers
Steve Vogel, “Defiant Workers Return to Posts at the Pentagon,”
WP,
13 Sept. 2001; Glenn Flood, e-mail to author, 16 Mar. 2006; Anderson, author interview.

Donald Rumsfeld, back in
Rumsfeld, address to troops and DoD personnel, 12 Sept. 2001, OSD; Rumsfeld, DoD news briefing, 12 Sept. 2001.

The ones most impressed
Carter, author interview; Irby, DoD news briefing, 14 Sept. 2001.

It was hardly business
Vogel, “Defiant Workers Return to Posts at the Pentagon” Schwartz, author interview; Arlington Fire Chief Ed Plaugher, DoD news briefing, 12 Sept. 2001.

An American flag
James T. Jackson, author interview, 16 Mar. 2006; Schwartz, author interview.

Hell’s Kitchen

By the afternoon of September 12
Schwartz, author interview;
WP,
13 Sept. 2001;
NYT,
14 Sept. 2001.

The chaos of the first
Author’s notes, visit to site, 13 Sept. 2001; Arthur Santana, “Helping and Hoping, a Man Resolves to Rescue His Wife,”
WP,
13 Sept. 2001.

Arlington police detective
Don Fortunato, interview with Margaret Roth, 24 May 2002.

Rescuers had not officially
Kilsheimer, author interview; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.” Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations,” 6.

Shoring had begun
Titus, “A Review of the Temporary Shoring,” 17–19.

Rescuers methodically
Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations,” 6–7.

Shoring had begun
Titus, “A Review of the Temporary Shoring,” 17–19.

Rescuers methodically
Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations,” 6–7.

Whenever a body was found
Ibid.,
8; Command Sergeant Major Aubrey Butts, author interview, 13 Sept. 2001.

A large area
Collins, “Collapse Rescue Operations,” 9–11, Kilsheimer, author interview.

You make it happen

Unlike in New York
Evey, author interview, 2002;
WP,
25 June 2002.

Even as search
Hunkele, author interview; Kilsheimer, author interview; Evey notes, 13 Sept. 2001, Evey papers.

Cooke refused
Ibid.;
Evey notes, 17 Sept. 2001, Evey papers.

The Corps was asked
The Renovator,
Mar. 2002; Evey, DoD news briefing, 7 Mar. 2002 (hereafter Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002).

Evey quickly selected AMEC
OSD press release, 15 Sept. 2001 (this and all OSD press releases from October 1994 on are available at
www.defenselink.mil/releases
); Evey, memo to deputy secretary of defense, 14 Sept. 2001, Evey papers.

The main question was who
Evey, author interview, 2002; Kilsheimer, author interview; Schwartz, author interview; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed” Kilsheimer, remarks to Fairfax County Department Works and Environmental Services conference, 2 Apr. 2004 (hereafter Kilsheimer Fairfax remarks); FBI Special Agent Garrett MacKenzie, remarks at Phoenix Project reunion, 11 Sept. 2006.

Kilsheimer was exactly
Evey, author interview, 2002; Catlow, author interview;
ENR,
4 Feb. 2002.

On Friday, September 14
Evey, author interview, 2002; Kilsheimer, author interview.

Only by the grace of God

That Sunday night
Evey, author interview, 2002; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

After five days at the site
Ibid.;
Kilsheimer, author interview.

The first step
Ibid.;
Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD; ASCE
Building Performance Report,
9, 58.

Core samples
Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD; Kerry Hall, “Concrete Autopsy Helps Strengthen the Pentagon,”
National Geographic Today,
9 July 2002.

It meant many
Kilsheimer, author interview; Kilsheimer, OSD interview, 29 Oct. 2001.

It was surprising
ASCE
Building Performance Report,
1, 4; Baltimore
Sun,
22 Sept. 2001; Paul Mlakar, author interview, 11 May 2006. A similar team was sent to the World Trade Center.

Remains

At 8:45 in the morning
WP,
22 Sept. 2001; “Inside the Wire,” Military District of Washington public affairs, 26 Sept. 2001.

The Army had lost the most
Ibid.;
DoD casualty updates, Sept.–Oct. 2001,
www.defenselink.mil/news
; Steve Vogel, “Tear-Stained Spreadsheets,”
WP,
10 Oct. 2001.

The search for remains
Arlington AAR, C-55-56; Steve Vogel, “On the Job Amid the Surreal,”
WP,
30 Sept. 2001; Zeraat, Roth interview; Major Ed Monarez, interview with Margaret Roth, 2002.

I would certainly be dead now

The same day the FBI
Vogel, “New Pentagon Pays Off” author’s notes from tour with Evey, 21 Sept. 2001; AP, 6 Oct. 2001;
The Renovator,
summer 2002.

Three days earlier
Peter Murphy, e-mail to Evey, 19 Sept. 2001, PENREN; Steve Vogel, “Retaking a Lost Position,”
WP,
16 Aug. 2002. The flag was rescued on September 13, marched out of the Pentagon by Marines and soldiers, and in December 2001 orbited Earth aboard the space shuttle
Endeavour.

Many had similar stories
Susan Morrisey Livingstone letter to Cooke and Evey, 18 Sept. 2001, Evey papers; Stephen Pietropaoli e-mail to Evey, 14 Sept. 2001, Evey papers; ASCE
Building Performance Report,
16–7, 44; Titus, “A Review of the Temporary Shoring,” 14–15; Vogel, “Retaking a Lost Position”
Today’s Facility Manager,
September 2002; Goldberg, author interview, Mar. 2006; Glatz, author interview.

But there were other stories
Ibid.;
Evey, author interview, 2002, 2005; Glatz, e-mail to Evey, 24 Sept. 2001, Evey papers; McNair, author interview;
The Renovator,
Mar. 2002.

The blast-resistant windows
Glatz, author interview;
The Renovator,
Jan./Feb 2002.

The big open-bay
Glatz, author interview.

Most disturbing
Ibid.;
Schwartz, author interview; Evey, author interviews, 2002, 2005;
The Renovator,
Mar. 2002.

The main problem
Glatz, author interview; Rossow,
Uncommon Strength,
xi–xii, 22, 55; McNair, author interview.

Somebody could fly into the doughnut hole

Evey’s initial reaction
Evey, author interview, 2002; Schwartz, author interview.

Some of the fixes
Evey, author interview, 2002; Evey briefings, 7 Mar. and 11 June 2002, DoD;
The Renovator,
Mar. 2002; Glatz, author interview; Michael Sullivan, author interview, Sept. 2003; Steve Vogel, “Workers Push to Fortify Military Headquarters,”
WP,
7 Sept. 2003.

the safety upgrades were similar
Robins memo to Somervell’s office, 20 Dec. 1941, I, CEHO.

Representative John Murtha
Michael Sullivan, e-mail to Wendy Thompson and Stacie Condrell, 26 Oct. 2001, Evey papers; Evey e-mail to Cooke, 2 Nov. 2001, Evey papers; Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD.

Security officials decided
Jester, author interview; Haselbush, author interview; Sullivan, author interview; Vogel, “Workers Push to Fortify Military Headquarters.”

The original renovation plan
“Incident Impact, Program Challenges, Required Decisions,” PENREN, Dec. 2001, Evey papers; Catlow, author interview; Evey, author interview, 2005.

In October, Wolfowitz
Wolfowitz, “Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) Protection and Response for Pentagon Personnel,” 26 Oct. 2001, Evey papers.

To Evey’s astonishment
Evey, e-mails to John Batiste, 1, 2, and 3 Oct. 2001, Evey papers; Batiste, e-mails to Evey, 1 and 2 Oct. 2001, Evey papers.

Batiste scheduled
Evey, author interview, 2005; Wolfowitz, OSD interview.

“You don’t think”
Rumsfeld, author interview.

Are you nuts?

The crash scene
WP,
3 Oct. 2001; Evey, author interview, 2002; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.” The section is based on this account.

crews kept working
Ibid.;
Lynne Perri, “Pentagon Waging a Massive Effort,”
USA Today,
23 Nov. 2001; Kilsheimer Fairfax remarks;
The Renovator,
Mar. 2002.

Kilsheimer was worried
Kilsheimer, author interview; Pat Riley, author interview, 20 Mar. 2006; Pino-Marina, “Indiana Plant Makes its Mark on History” Kilsheimer Fairfax remarks.

All around the site
Will Colston, author interview, August 2002; Evey, author interview, 2002.

Evey considered the idea
Ibid.;
Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.” Evey briefing, 15 Sept. 2001, DoD; Sullivan, daily log of activities, 12 Sept. 2001, Evey papers; Kilsheimer, OSD interview.

On October 5
Evey, CNN.com, 5 Oct. 2001; Evey, author interview, 2002; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

“Are you nuts?”
Ibid.

The view from Arlington

Demolition began
Ruane et al, “Inch by Inch.”

Employees inside
Perri, “Pentagon waging a massive effort” Steve Vogel, “Pentagon Halfway Back in Countdown from Inferno,” 10 Mar. 2002; Kilsheimer, OSD interview.

Most estimates of how long
Evey briefings, 7 Mar. and 11 June 2002, DoD; Kilsheimer, author interview; PENREN incident status briefing, 31 Oct. 2001, Evey papers.

From the gravesites
McNair, author interview; Ruane et al, “Inch by Inch.”

I’m not leaving until this damn place is rebuilt

Kilsheimer felt it too
Kilsheimer, Washington Building Congress Bulletin, Sept. 2002; Kilsheimer, OSD interview; Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

It was time
Ibid.;
Hunkele, author interview; Evey, author interview, 2002.

Thousands of Phoenix Project
Kilsheimer, author interview.

As was the case
Perri, “Pentagon Waging a Massive Effort” “CBS Morning News,” 21 Dec. 2001; Mary Beth Sheridan, “U.S. Symbol, Latino Muscle,”
WP,
4 Apr. 2002; Fredrick Kunkle, “At Pentagon, Healing and Rebuilding,”
WP,
22 Jan. 2002; Carter, author interview; Catlow, author interview; Evey, author interview, 2002; Stephen Ludden, author interview, 3 Apr. 2006.

Everyone worked with purpose
Fredrick Kunkle, “On the Job With Pride and Pain,”
WP,
18 Feb. 2002; Travis Fox, “Rebuilding a Fortress, Rebuilding a Life,” 16 Aug. 2002, washingtonpost.com; “The Early Show,” CBS, 11 Mar. 2002; Wilmington
News-Journal,
11 Apr. 2002.

The odd couple

Evey and Kilsheimer
Kilsheimer, author interview; Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed.”

Working seven days a week
Ibid.;
Evey e-mail about Kilsheimer, 28 Nov. 2001, Evey papers; Ori Nir, “A Son of Survivors Raises the Pentagon from the Ashes,”
Forward,
20 Sept. 2002; Kilsheimer, OSD interview; Kilsheimer Fairfax remarks.

Whenever questions were raised
Ibid.;
Evey, author interview, 2005.

Evey considered himself
Ibid.

Steve Carter
Carter, author interview.

Of course, it was easy
Ibid.;
Evey, author interview, 2005.

Out of the ground

In the new year
Vogel, “From Ruins, Pentagon Rises Renewed” Anderson, author interview.

By mid-January
ENR,
4 Feb. 2002; Kilsheimer, author interview; Ludden, author interview; Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD.

Modern construction techniques
Ibid.;
Kilsheimer, Washington Building Congress Bulletin, Sept. 2002; Carter, author interview.

By late February
Evey briefing, 7 Mar. 2002, DoD; Pino-Marina, “Indiana Plant Makes its Mark on History” Riley, author interview; “Limestone on Way to Pentagon,”
The
(Bloomington, Indiana)
Herald Times,
20 Dec. 2001.