9/11 Pentagon Witness

By Jill S. Wasilewski

On 9/11/01, the 250 soldiers and civilian employees of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel office, were at their desks in the Pentagon, when they heard and felt a loud explosion, followed by rattling shock waves. Immediately, a colonel shouted, "EVERYBODY OUT, NOW!", and evacuation began. Follow the stories of workers who escaped that day, and those who did not, including a three-star general officer, and see how the survivors coped with those losses, in "9/11 Pentagon Witness."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jun 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781977245168

Jill S. Wasilewski

Author Jill Wasilewski grew up in a small, quiet town in the midwestern Illinois Heartland, where cows and cornfields dominate the landscape. Jill left Illinois state government employment and relocated to Washington DC, in 1989, for a position with the U.S. Army as a civilian employee. Fascinated by the Army, the soldiers, military values and traditions, and the many federal employment advancement opportunities, Jill spent 30 years in Washington, including 25 years at the Pentagon. There, she became a witness and survivor of the stunning international terrorist attack on 9/11/01.

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9/11 Pentagon Witness

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2021 Jill S. Wasilewski

v5.0

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-9772-4516-8

Cover Photo © 2021 Jill S. Wasilewski. All rights reserved - used with permission.

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

I dedicate this book to my beloved brother, Johnny, who faced more of life’s struggles than most of us, and did so with courage, humor, and love; and to my wonderful parents, John and Joan (Jo-an), who cared for Johnny at home with lots of love, respect, and good humor. They also did a great job raising my two sisters, Julie and Jamie, and myself. My family exemplifies the same type of American Values the US Army does, with the Army Values and Soldier’s Creed.

I also want to thank my mentors and advisors for their guidance and direction:

Mr. Bill Harmening

Dr. Naomi Verdugo

Ms. Kathy Dillaber

Ms. Catherine Zickafoose

Mr. Jamie Sadler

Mr. Jim Laychak

Table of Contents

1. A Sunny Day

2. Impact

3. Evacuation

4. To the Mall

5. Phone Calls

6. Inside the Burning Pentagon

7. Their Last Day

8. Relocation

9. The Missing List

10. Stress Overload

11. LTG (Ret) Stroup

12. Return to Ground Zero

13. Retirement of COL Lewis

14. Retrieval Mission

15. Home for Christmas

16. Pentagon Memorials

17. An Illinois Visitor

18. The Army Corps of Engineers

19. DCSPER and the Pentagon

20. Nancy Nanny

21. The Card Shop

22. Amazing Sights and Sites

23. Harassment

24. The Pentagon Quilts

25. Depression

26. Decompression

27. Next Generation Pentagon

28. State of the Art Medicine

29. DCSPER Group Hug

30. Farewell, LTG Maude

31. Arlington National Cemetery

32. Repeat Offender

33. Rest Peacefully, Faithful Soldiers

34. Corridor 2E4 DCSPER Memorial

35. Purple Hearts

36. Defense of Freedom Medals

37. The Soldier’s Medals

38. Casualty List

39. The Army Values and Soldier’s Creed

40. Photos

GLOSSARY, for family, friends, and neighbors in the Midwestern Heartland, who may be as unfamiliar with the Army and the Pentagon as I was when I first arrived there.

DCSPER: pron. Des-PURR. The US Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. The word DCSPER may refer to either the 3-star Lieutenant General (LTG) head of the organization, or it can refer to the organization as a whole. DCSPER handles Army personnel issues, officer and enlisted recruiting and retention, military pay and compensation, uniform regulations, Army housing, and much more. (DCSPER is now G-1; Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1.)

Five Pentagon Entrances: Each side of the Pentagon has one major entrance/exit. They are:

Metro Entrance: Public/visitor access, primary employee entrance.

South Parking: Secondary employee entrance.

Heliport Access: Private entrance, 9/11 attack site, 9/11 Memorial.

Mall Entrance: Private entrance.

River Entrance: Private entrance.

A-Ring: The smallest (though still quite large), innermost circular hallway of the Pentagon’s five concentric rings. The A-ring hallway windows overlook the 5-acre Pentagon Center Courtyard, a park-like area in the center of the Building.

E-Ring: The enormous, outermost circular hallway ring of the Pentagon. The E-ring office windows are the only windows where you can look out over the surrounding cityscape and highways.

Corridors (1 – 10) are straight hallways that run from the center A-ring of the Pentagon to the outer edges or E-ring, similar to bicycle wheel spokes. Rings have letter designations, Corridors have numbers.

A and E Drive: A secure, circular service road in between Pentagon rings B and C. It’s used to transport equipment, as walkways for employees, and for many other purposes.

Wedges (1 – 5): The Pentagon is also charted as 5 pie-shaped sections known as Wedges. Wedge 1 consists of Corridors 3 and 4, A to E-rings, including all five floors and basements, etc.

Military Ranks: Captain is CPT, Major is MAJ, Lieutenant Colonel is LTC, Colonel is COL, Brigadier General (one star) is BG, Major General (two stars) is MG, Lieutenant General (three stars) is LTG, General (four stars) is GEN. The letter (P) after military rank is Promotable/will be promoted soon.

SES Rankings: The Senior Executive Service of the federal government consists of appointed senior-level civilian leaders. They are ranked equivalent to military General Officers or Flag Officers in the US Armed Forces, with one to four stars.

SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, I had a very vivid dream.

In the dream, I was with many of my co-workers from the US Army DCSPER office. We were all sitting in a large, fairly dark room with many small tables and chairs, similar to the cafeteria. The room looked foggy and hazy. I could see only my immediate vicinity, though I knew the others were all nearby. However, no one moved or spoke, as though time had stopped. Then our leader, Lieutenant General Timothy J. Maude moved through the room, very . . . very . . . slowly. He did not speak, he just walked among us one last time. Then he was gone.

I awoke, and lay thinking about the dream. Then I realized, the date was Saturday, October 6, 2001, and it was the morning of LTG Maude’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.

In Spring 2001, several of us from the Headquarters, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (DCSPER) organization first toured our new office area in Wedge 1, Corridor 4, Floor 2, rings A - E of the Pentagon. We would be among the first to move into the first newly renovated section of the Pentagon in June 2001. The DCSPER Executive offices on the E-ring were fresh and new, with beautiful emerald green carpeting. As we wandered through the new, empty rooms, someone pointed out, This is the DCSPER’s new office, the future location for LTG Maude. We looked out his window and saw the busy nearby highway, Arlington National Cemetery in the distance, and just below his window to the right, the Pentagon Helipad.

CHAPTER 1

A Sunny Day

I commuted to work by Metro subway train as usual on Tuesday, 9/11/01. In Virginia, the trains run primarily above ground, so I could enjoy the beautiful sunny day during the ride. I traveled from my apartment in Springfield, VA, to the Pentagon, a distance of about 13 miles. At the Pentagon, I passed through the security checkpoints, then took the long walk inside the Building to the far west Heliport side of the Building where the new DCSPER offices were. We were excited to be among the first to relocate into the only Wedge of the Pentagon that had been completely renovated. We had just moved in June 2001.

There were four more wedges to be renovated, a process that was expected to take 11 to 12 years to complete. I worked in the DCSPER Plans and Resources (PR) Directorate, room 2B453, where I was the civilian Executive Assistant to the Director, COL Mark R. Lewis. I was 45 at the time, and had worked for the US Army for 12 years, eight of those at the Pentagon.

I quickly grew to love the old, cavernous, bustling, always-open Pentagon, and ended up spending 25 years there. It’s like a private, fortified city, with endless hallways, corridors, and ancient sub-levels. Most of it is comfortably familiar to me, like a home away from home. Several large, very wide, curving ramps lead from floor to floor, and were originally installed so that large numbers of people or equipment could be moved or evacuated quickly. Those are very unique. I loved the vintage 1940’s Pentagon with its echoing long hallways, ancient gymnasium, and old wooden office doors, and now, fast forward, I love the new, shining, gleaming, renovated, twenty-first century Pentagon.

The only place other than the Pentagon that I was interested in working was for the US Army in Europe. I applied for a couple of those positions over the years, but those didn’t come through, and I was happy to stay at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon has a large concourse with multiple shops and businesses, including several cafeterias and restaurants, banks, post office, CVS pharmacy, medical clinics, dental offices, optometrist, civilian and military clothing stores, dry cleaners, barber/hair salon, jeweler, florist, candy store, and souvenir shops. The multiple commercial businesses enable the thousands of employees to conveniently handle personal business during the workday without leaving the building.

There is also a huge, new, world class gym, the Pentagon Athletic Club (aka the PAC). The highlight of the PAC is an Olympic-sized swimming pool with an elevated oval running track above it. Military and civilian personnel of all ranks may pay a fee to join the athletic club.

Today, there are 23,000 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Department of Defense military and civilian personnel, and support staff, employed at the Pentagon. I always enjoy seeing the thousands of friendly, sharp looking men in crisp uniforms of every type, and assorted ranks, but mostly officers, in the Pentagon hallways and corridors. There