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WILL: THIS MORNING WE’RE MARKING
21 YEARS SINCE THE 9/11 ATTACKS,
A DAY WE WILL NEVER FORGET.
JOINING US NOW THREE ARMY
OFFICERS WHO WERE IN THE
PENTAGON WHEN FLIGHT 77 HIT.
DR. AND RETIRED COLONEL JERRY
KITZHABER, RETIRED COLONEL MARK
LEWIS AND RETIRED COLONEL ROY
WALLACE JOIN US NOW.
GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR BEING
WITH US THIS MORNING.
FORGIVE, SO MUCH ATTENTION BY
THE WAY APPROPRIATE ATTENTION ON
NEW YORK CITY BUT NOT OFTEN
PERHAPS GIVEN TO WHAT HAPPENED
HA DAY AT THE PENTAGON AS WELL.
FORGIVE ME FOR NOT COMPLETELY
HAVING MY ARMS AROUND THE
GEOGRAPHY, APPEARS TO ME,
COLONEL WALLACE YOU WERE THE
CLOSEST TO WHERE FLIGHT 77 HIT
THAT DAY AT THE PENTAGON.
CAN YOU TAKE ME THROUGH WHAT YOU
EXPERIENCED THAT MORNING?
>> YES, I SURE CAN.
SO, WHEN THE PLANE HIT THE
BUILDING I WAS SITTING AT A HALF
ROUND CONVERSATION TABLE AND THE
BLAST WAVE ACTUALLY PICKED ME UP
IN THE AIR AND THREW ME
BACKWARDS HEAD OVER HEELS AND AS
I WATCHED, AS I WAS GOING OVER
BACKWARDS, I WATCHED THE BLAST
WAVE HIT THE WINDOWS BEHIND US
IN THE C RING AND IT SHATTERED
THEM AND THEY DROPPED OUT WHOLE
INTO A&E BOULEVARD.
AFTER THAT WE GOT AS LOW AS WE
COULD, WE COULD SEE THE
ON-COMING FIRE AND SMOKE.
GOT LOW TO THE GROUND AND CALLED
OUT INTO THE ABYSS THAT WAS THE
REST OF THE OFFICE, TO GET AS
MANY PEOPLE OUT AS WE COULD.
WILL: COLONEL KITZHABER, AND
COLONEL LEWIS, YOU BOTH SHARE
SOMETHING IN COMMON READING YOUR
STORIES, YOU HEADED INTO
MEETINGS THAT ENDED UP BEING
DELAYED OR CANCELED.
COLONEL KITZHABER, IN YOUR
INSTANCE, THAT APPEARS TO HAVE
BEEN A BIT OF A BLESSING, TAKING
YOU AWAY FROM EVENTUALLY WHERE
YOU WERE HEADED.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR
MORNING?
>> YES, THAT MORNING I HAD JUST
FINISHED UP A BRIEFING.
I WAS GOING TO TAKE IT DOWN TO
GENERAL WEBSTER WHO WAS THE ARMY
DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND I
DIDN’T HAVE A SET TIME TO BRING
IT THERE.
SO I WAS FINISHING IT UP AND
EACH TIME I GOT READY TO HEAD
OUT TO HIS OFFICE WE HEARD NEW
NEWS WHAT WAS GOING ON IN
NEW YORK AND OTHER THINGS THAT
DELAYED ME.
JUST AS I WAS READY TO LEAVE THE
PHONE RANG AND IT WAS MY WIFE.
SHE WAS CALLED BECAUSE I CALLED
HER EARLIER TO TELLER WHAT
HAPPENED IN NEW YORK.
SHE WAS CALLING TO CHECK ON ME
IF I WAS OKAY THERE, SAFE IN THE
PENTAGON.
AS SOON AS I FINISHED THE PHONE
CALL, HUNG UP THE PHONE, I SPUN
AROUND IN MY CHAIR, THAT IS WHEN
THE PLANE HIT.
MY OFFICE SITS RIGHT NEXT TO
THE, IT IS IN THE B RING.
WE HAVE A WINDOW THERE BETWEEN
THE B AND C RING.
ALL THE ROCKS AND DEBRIS AND SO
FORTH WAS FLYING ALL THROUGH
THAT AREA.
NOW HAD I NOT RECEIVED THAT CALL
FROM MY WIFE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN
ON MY WAY DOWN TO GENERAL
WEBSTER’S OFFICE WHEN THE PLANE
STRUCK BETWEEN MY OFFICE AND HIS
OFFICE.
HE WAS FORTUNATELY SURVIVED.
DIDN’T GET HURT TOO SERIOUSLY
SO, THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE AT
THAT POINT.
WILL: COLONEL LEWIS, AS WE HEARD
FROM THE OTHER TWO, I’M CURIOUS,
YOU HAVE SOME INDICATION THAT
MORNING AT THE PENTAGON WHAT IS
TAKING PLACE IN NEW YORK CITY.
WAS THERE ANY SENTIMENT THERE AT
THE PENTAGON THAT MORNING THERE
COULD BE SOME PENDING DANGER?
WAS THERE ANY SENSE OF ACTION
THAT WAS NECESSARY OR A COMPLETE
SURPRISE THAT THE PENTAGON WAS
ALSO A TARGET THAT MORNING?
>> THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR
INVITATION THIS MORNING.
NO, THERE WASN’T.
I’LL TELL YOU, AS THAT UNFOLDED
IN NEW YORK A NUMBER OF THOSE ON
THE TELEVISION WERE REPLAYS AND
SO WE HAD KEPT WATCHING THAT.
I HAD TRIED TO GET DOWN TO, OR
WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE
"E-RING" TO HAVE A MEETING.
I CAME BACK, THEN IT DAWNED ON
US IT WAS REALLY THE SECOND
TOWER THAT GOT HIT.
IT WAS NOT A REPLAY ON THE NEWS
NETWORKS.
AND JUST WHEN WE CAME TO THAT
REALIZATION I STARTED BACK DOWN
THE HALLWAY TO THE "E-RING" TO
MAKE SURE THAT OUR BOSS, OUR
GENERAL KNEW THIS.
THAT IS WHEN WE GOT HIT.
SO WE HAD HARDLY ANY
REALIZATION.
THEN THE, SO THEN THAT, YOU PULL
TOGETHER REALLY QUICKLY, HEY,
THIS IS THREE AIRPLANE STRIKES,
WHAT WENT THROUGH MY MIND, I
WONDER HOW MANY AIRPLANES ARE
FLYING AROUND DOING THIS SAME
SORT OF THING.
WILL: YEAH.
A SENSE MANY AMERICANS HAD.
184 PEOPLE KILLED AT THE
PENTAGON.
OUR DUTY TO REMEMBER THEM AS
WELL.
COLONEL WALLACE YOU FEEL IT IS
YOUR DUTY TO SHARE THE STORY OF
THOSE WHO WERE IN YOUR CLOSE
PROXIMITY THAT LOST THEIR LIVES.
WE APPRECIATE ALL THREE OF YOU
SHARING YOUR STORIES ON
"FOX & FRIENDS."