Posted on 09/11/2001 8:59:44 PM PDT by kristinn
I work just across the Potomac River from the Pentagon, in Southwest Washington, D.C. Like alot of us, I watched in awe as the the World Trade Center towers in New York City were destroyed this morning in a bizarre terrorist attack involving two passengers jets crashing into the twin towers.
Around 9:30 a.m., someone in my office received a call from a friend of his who told him a plane had just crashed into the Pentagon. This wasn't being reported on the news, so I ran outside to see what I could see. Sure enough, dark smoke was rapidly rising from across the river where the Pentagon lies.
The distant feelings of seeing a major terrorist attack on TV were replaced by the immediacy of seeing the results of a similar attack in real life. Back in the office, news reports (which hours later turned out to be false) caused concern as explosions were said to have occured at nearby Capitol Hill and the State Department downtown and that another terrorist plane was headed for D.C.
I chose to stay at work, leaving it in God's hands what would become of me today. As things turned out, no more terrorist actions occurred in D.C.
Later in the afternoon, I drove around town and by the Pentagon with tgslTakoma. We picked up some copies of The Washington Post's special edition (which was a good issue, actually) on our way back to my neighborhood at 16th and U St., NW.
Rush-hour traffic was almost non-existent, adding to the eerieness of the day. We went to the roof of my building, which has a panoramic view of the city. I looked around at the beautiful blue skies which stretched from horizon to horizon and noted the ugly blemish of the smoke still pouring forth from the Pentagon.
Just as I commented on the absence of air traffic, tgslTakoma saw a descending white jumbo jet in the southeast horizon disappear below our line of sight. A minute later, two F-16s came screaming by overhead from the southeast, rapidly ascending as they banked first west and then to the northeast and out of sight. A few minutes later when we were back in the car, we learned from news reports on the radio that we had just witnessed President Bush return to Washington.
I bought a disposable camera and we went downtown to check out the White House. A perimeter had been established two blocks around it on all sides. We could still see it from 16th and I St. In fact, we were close enough to make out the black- clad ERTs on the roof.
We drove out of town to see the Pentagon. On our way out, the Mall by the Washington Monument was swarming with military helicopters which had accompanied Marine One as it carried the President back to the White House. However, we saw no troops on the ground. There was a strong police presence, but nothing anyone could call a police state.
We drove across Memorial Bridge and down to the Shirley Hwy. Smoke still billowed out from the Pentagon as twilight approached. All roads leading to it were blocked by police. The closest we could get was driving by on the Shirley Hwy. Even from that distance, the gaping wound left by the plane could be plainly seen. It was a sad and maddening sight--made even more so because I knew one of the passengers.
Washington Monument in Background
View of Crash From Shirley Hwy
White House, September 11, 2001
Besides NY City, the Pentagon in DC was attacked on 9/11/01.
Kristin’s reported on the DC/Pentagon re 9/11/01.
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